Steve Miller Band Performance History July 1968-December 1968 (Steve Miller IV-end)

This continues the Steve Miller Band performance history from 1966 through 1968. For the first installment, from October 1966 through May 1967, see here,for the second half of 1967 see here, and for the first half of 1968 see here. Anyone with additional information, corrections, insights or memories should contact me or post them in the comments. This installment attempts to identify every Steve Miller Band and Steve Miller performance from January to June 1968.

July 12-14, 1968: Avalon Ballroom, San Francisco, CA Steve Miller Band/Howlin Wolf/Conqueroo

The Conqueroo were from Texas and were regulars at the Vulcan Gas Company ballroom in Austin.

July 26-28, 1968: Grande Ballroom, Detroit, MI Steve Miller Band/Odds and Ends (26)-Carosel (27)-Air Speed Indicator (28)

There must have been a few other dates outside of California, but I am not able to find any.

August 3, 1968: Shrine Expostion Hall, Los Angeles, CA Jeff Beck Group/Blue Cheer/Steve Miller Band/Big Mama Thornton and the original Hound Dog Band/Charles Lloyd

August 4, 1968: Shrine Exposition Hall, Los Angeles Butterfield Blues Band/Ike & Tina Turner/Electric Flag/Magic Sam/Steve Miller Band/Kaleidoscope

August 13-15, 1968 Avalon Ballroom, San Francisco, CA The Byrds/Steve Miller Band/Blue Cheer/West

This date is noted in Chris Hjort’s Byrds book. Hjort notes that there is some doubt whether the shows took place. It may have been filming for a TV pilot.

August 16-18, 1968 The Cheetah, Santa Monica, CA Steve Miller Band/Barry Goldberg Reunion/Eastside Kids

High Torr Presents

August 31, 1968 Palace of Fine Arts Festival, San Francisco, CA Mike Bloomfield Jam Band/Quicksilver Messenger Service/The Lamb/Linn County/AB Skhy/Ace of Cups

Faren Miller has a detailed review in her diaries. The billing was somewhat different than what she describes, and its not clear who were no-shows and who she simply missed or didn’t comment on. John Handy, Steve Miller, Big Mama Thornton and HP Lovecraft were billed, and Mike Bloomfield was not. Miller specifically refers to HP Lovecraft as no-shows, but the rest aren’t referenced.

There were multiple stages, with multiple light shows. Peter Albin was the MC (Big Brother was apparently booked, but canceled). Mike Bloomfield Jam Band was initially Bloomfield, Gravenites, Mark Naftalin probably Ron Stallings on tenor and vocals, Bob Jones on drums and a bassist and conga player. Steve Miller and Curley Cook came out and played guitars, and Bloomfield played some organ.

September 5-7, 1968 Fillmore West Chuck Berry/Steve Miller Band/Kensington Market

An eyewitness blog post says that the entire 5-piece Miller Band backed Chuck Berry.

September 20-22, 1968: Avalon Ballroom, San Francisco, CA Steve Miller Band/Muddy Waters/A.B. Skhy Blues Band

The fact that there are conflicts with two of these dates (see below) suggests that the Miller Band may not have played the gigs. Two gigs in a day was not unheard of, but it seems unlikely on multiple nights.

September 20, 1968: Community Theatre, Berkeley, CA Grateful Dead/Steve Miller Band/Ace of Cups

Note the conflict with the above Avalon date. It appears Steve Miller played two shows in one night, or more likely did not play the Avalon on Sep 20.

September 22, 1968: Del Mar Fairgrounds, Del Mar, CA Grateful Dead/Buddy Miles Express/Taj Mahal/Quicksilver Messenger Service/Sons of Champlin/Mother Earth/Curly Cooke’s Hurdy-Gurdy Band/Youngbloods/Ace of Cups/Phoenix

The Buddy Miles Express were billed as “Formerly: The Electric Flag.” An eyewitness reports that Steve Miller Band performed as well, with Boz Scaggs still in the band.

September 25, 1968: Fillmore West, San Francisco, CA Steve Miller Blues Band/Santana/Flamin Groovies/It’s a Beautiful Day/Frumious Bandersnatch/Cleveland Wrecking Company/Country Weather/The Womb

Benefit for the Peace and Freedom Cabaret

September 28, 1968: Fillmore West, San Francisco, CA Super Session with Al Kooper and Mike Bloomfield/It’s A Beautiful Day/Loading Zone

Mike Bloomfield does not show up the third day of "Super Session", so Elvin Bishop, Steve Miller and Carlos Santana take turns sitting in. Miller's guitar playing was left off the Super Session album because of record company conflicts (Miller was on Capitol, while Kooper was on CBS).

September 29, 1968 El Camino Park, Palo Alto, CA Steve Miller Band/Frumious Bandersnatch/Phoenix/Freedom Highway

Yet another “Palo Alto Be-In.” I have had to approximate the date from eyewitnesses and other peripheral evidence . At this show, the Steve Miller Band was a trio (per Bobby Winkelmann of Frumious Bandersnatch), as Scaggs and Peterman apparently did not make the gig. However, Carlos Santana did show up to jam with the Miller trio.

October, 1968: The Steve Miller Band’s second album, Sailor, is released by Capitol. Much of it had been recorded in London earlier in the year. However, guitarist/vocalist Boz Scaggs and organist Jim Peterman would quit the band by year's end (the clipping above is from October 3, 1968 edition of The Capital Times from Madison, WI).

October 2-6, 1968: Whisky A-Go-Go, West Hollywood, CA Steve Miller Band/Chicago Transit Authority

October 16-18, 1968 Boston Tea Party, Boston, MA Steve Miller Band/Liverpool Scene

October 24?, 1968 [venue], Kansas City, MO Quicksilver Messenger Service/Steve Miller Band

Date approximated from a newspaper reference. I would presume there were other East Coast gigs.

November 2, 1968: Golden Gym, Cal Western College, San Diego, CA Country Joe & The Fish/Steve Miller Band/Framework

December 22-23, 1968 Sports Arena, Los Angeles LA Pop Festival A Christmas Happening

>December 23, 1968 Sports Arena, Los Angeles, CA Chambers Brothers/Steve Miller Band/Buddy Miles Express/The Turtles/Love Exchange/Box Tops/Grass Roots

December 26-29, 1968: Fillmore West, San Francisco, CA Steve Miller Band/Sly and The Family Stone/Pogo

A tape from KPFA-fm circulates from one of these shows. Boz Scaggs and Jim Peterman are still in the band, but their role seems reduced, and in any case they would both leave shortly afterwards.

The Steve Miller Band continues to record and perform to this day, but my research into early Steve Miller Band dates ends here. Please comment or contact me with additional information, insights, corrections or memories.

Steve Miller Band Performance History January 1968-June 1968 (Steve Miller III)

This continues the Steve Miller Band performance history from 1966 through 1968. For the first installment, from October 1966 through May 1967, see here, and for the second half of 1967 see here. Anyone with additional information, corrections, insights or memories should contact me or post them in the comments. This installment attempts to identify every Steve Miller Band and Steve Miller performance from January to June 1968.
January 4-6, 1968: Winterland Vanilla Fudge/Steve Miller Blues Band/Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee/Sweetwater (4^th Fillmore)

January 12-18, 1968: Café Au Go Go, New York, NY John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers/Steve Miller Band

The Steve Miller Band were probably on their way to London to record their first album, but they seem to have stopped off in New York/ At this point, they are no longer billed as The Steve Miller Blues Band. The Cafe Au Go Go was a Greenwich Village nightclub located at 152 Bleecker Street.

February, 1968: The Steve Miller Band was in London recording their first album. Miller made recording in London a condition of signing a contract. While there, all but Miller are busted for marijuana (the newspaper clipping above is a wire story from the February 27, 1968 Des Moines Register).

April, 1968: The Steve Miller Band’s first album, Children Of The Future, is released on Capitol. Records. Given that the band was recording the album in January and February, an April release is a pretty quick turnaround, even for the 1960s.

April 11, 1968: Boston Tea Party, Boston, MA Yardbirds/Steve Miller Band

The Miller Band seems to have made a national tour, but I only know of a few gigs. The Boston Tea Party was the a major stop on the psychedelic "circuit." Jimmy Page was the lead guitarist of The Yardbirds at this time.

April 12-13, 1968: Boston Tea Party, Boston, MA Steve Miller Band/Earth Opera

Earth Opera was a psychedelic folk-rock group on Elektra that featured Peter Rowan and mandolinist David Grisman, both of them later in Old and In The Way with Jerry Garcia. Earth Opera released two interesting albums on Elektra in 1968 and 69.

April 15-17, 1968: Garrick Theater, New York, NY Steve Miller Band

The Garrick, upstairs from the Café Au-Go-Go, was a small theater in Greenwich Village.

April 18-21, 1968: Café Au Go Go, New York, NY Steve Miller Band/Bunky and Jake

April 26-28, 1968: Carousel Ballroom, San Francisco, CA Steve Miller Band/James and Bobby Purify/Sons of Champlin

Tapes survive of all three nights.

May 8, 1968: Carousel Ballroom, San Francisco, CA Jefferson Airplane/Grateful Dead/Charlatans/Dan Hicks and His Hot Licks/It’s A Beautiful Day “Fire Dance” Alton Kelly Benefit

The Steve Miller Band may have also played this Carousel benefit.

May 10-12, 1968: Carousel Ballroom, San Francisco, CA Steve Miller Band/Kaleidoscope/Youngbloods

Tapes of the Steve Miller Band survive for all three nights. The band engages in some impressive extended jamming, soaring off a chord or two for long periods of time. Lonnie Turner in particular shines on bass. On May 11, Jorma Kaukonen and Jack Casady (and possibly Elvin Bishop) show up to jam at the end of the show.

May 17-18, 1968: Shrine Exposition Hall, Los Angeles, CA Grateful Dead/Steve Miller Band/Taj Mahal Pinnacle Presents

On May 18, the Jefferson Airplane appeared as unannounced guests.

May 18, 1968: Santa Clara County Fairgrounds, San Jose, CA

Jefferson Airplane/Big Brother and The Holding Company/Grateful Dead/Steve Miller Band/Youngbloods/People/Sons of Champlin/Crome Syrcus/Transatlantic Railroad/Indian Head Band/Mourning Reign

This was the first day of the two-day Northern California Folk Rock Festival. Acts are listed in reverse running order (the Airplane closed the show). An audience tape survives of the Miller Band set, seven songs in about 40 minutes.

May 21, 1968: Carousel Ballroom, San Francisco, CA: jam with Jerry Garcia, Jorma Kaukonen, Elvin Bishop, Steve Miller, others

Although the Carousel's finances were terrible, the music was still good. Jerry Garcia wanted a place to jam, so the idea was that Tuesday nights would be "jam night" at the Carousel. Admission was only a $1.00, and musicians felt free to hang out and jam. There is a tape, and Miller plays some blues on songs like "Key To The Highway." Probably other members of the Steve Miller Band were there as well. 

May 30, 1968: Acalanes High School, Lafayette Steve Miller Band/Loading Zone/Country Weather/Frumious Bandersnatch

Teen Drop-In Center Benefit

The Frumious Bandersnatch were from Lafayette, CA, in Contra Costa County. This was the first time the band met Steve Miller. Every member of Frumious Bandersnatch ended up in the Steve Miller Band at one time or another in the later 60s and 70s.

June 6-7, 1968: The Hippodrome, San Diego, CA Steve Miller Band/Alexander’s Timeless Blooze Band/Baptized By Fire

The Hippodrome was downtown at Front and G Streets.

June 12, 1968: Carousel Ballroom, San Francisco, CA: Jefferson Airplane/Steve Miller Band/The Charlatans/Dan Hicks

June 16, 1968: Fillmore Auditorium, San Francisco, CA Big Brother and The Holding Company/Steve Miller Blues Band/Sandy Bull/Dan Hicks/Santana Matrix Benefit

June 19, 1968: The Ark, Sausalito Steve Miller Band/Curley Cook’s Hurdy Gurdy Band

Although the Steve Miller Band was billed at The Ark, a tiny hangout on am old Ferryboat moored at Gate 6 in Sausalito, I find it highly unlikely that the Steve Miller Band actually played there. However, it seems very plausible that Miller would show up to jam with his old pal Curly Cook, so this was probably Cook’s band with Miller helping out and sitting in.

June 24-25, 1968 The Cheetah, Santa Monica, CA: Steve Miller Band/Rubber Hi-Way

The Cheetah, on Navy Pier, was more of a "teen" place, and often featured local bands. Capitol probably got the Miller Band booked there to create some sort of buzz. It's hard to say if it worked, but these kind of clubs soon disappeared anyway.

June 28-30, 1968: Carousel Ballroom, San Francisco, CA Steve Miller Band/Buddy Guy/Initial Shock

The Steve Miller Band may not have played on the 29^th (see below). Given the state of The Carousel’s finances, they may not have played any of the shows, or the shows may not have even happened.

June 29, 1968: Shrine Exposition Hall, Los Angeles, CA The Who/Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac/Crazy World of Arthur Brown Pinnacle Presents

This was almost certainly Fleetwood Mac’s American debut (there is a small chance they debuted June 23 at the Carousel in San Francisco). The Mac was still the original 4-piece lineup (Peter Green, Jeremy Spencer, John McVie and Mick Fleetwood) as Danny Kirwan would not join until August. The second night (June 29) Steve Miller Band replaced Crazy World of Arthur Brown, due to an injury in the band.

For the final installment, see here.

Steve Miller Band Performance History June 1967-December 1967 (Steve Miller II)

This continues the Steve Miller Band performance history from 1966 through 1968. For the first installment, from October 1966 through May 1967, see here. Anyone with additional information, corrections, insights or memories should contact me or post them in the comments [2017 update: I am substantially updating the Steve Miller posts in honor of the 48th anniversary of Brave New World]

June 1-4, 1967: Avalon Ballroom, San Francisco, CA The Doors/Daily Flash/Miller Blues Band

By the middle of 1966, the Steve Miller Band were an established attraction in the San Francisco Bay Area. Organist Jim Peterman, a friend from Wisconsin, had auditioned in February, but had wanted to finish college. At the end of his senior year at UW, he flew out to join the Steve Miller Band, arriving in late May or early June.

The group was often billed or listed in newspapers as the Miller Blues Band. This wasn't correct, but it didn't interfere, since all the local hippies knew who they were.

June 6-8, 1967: The Matrix, San Francisco, CA Steve Miller Blues Band

June 10, 1967: California Hall, San Francisco, CA Steve Miller Blues Band/Anonymous Artists of America
The poster suggests that Miller headlined two nights at California Hall, but a contemporary listing in Ralph Gleason's column shows that Quicksilver headlined Friday (June 9), and AAA replaced The Sparrow.

June 10, 1967: Muhammad Ali Festival at Hunters Point, San Francisco, CA Steve Miller Blues Band/many others

This mysterious two day event (Saturday and Sunday June 10 and 11) is only known from a poster. I have written about it elsewhere. I have assumed that the Miller Band played June 10 since they played Mt. Tam the next day (see below), but I do not even know for certain that the event occurred. I presume the Miller Band would have played the Ali Festival on the afternoon of the 10th (Saturday) and played California Hall (above) that night.

June 11, 1967: Mt. Tamalpais Theater, San Rafael, CA Fantasy Fair and Magic Music Festival-Benefit for Hunter’s Point Child Care Center

Byrds/Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band/Country Joe and The Fish/Every Mother's Son/Grassroots/Jefferson Airplane/Lamp of Childhood/Loading Zone/Merry-Go-Round/Mystery Trend/New Salvation Army Band/P.F. Sloan/Penny Nichols/The Seeds/Sons of Champlin/Steve Miller Blues Band/Tim Buckley

Originally scheduled for the weekend of June 3-4, and delayed a week due to rain, causing a significant change in the performers. Listed above are the actual June 11 performers.,albeit in alphabetical order.

June 13-15, 1967 The Matrix, San Francisco Steve Miller Blues Band

June 17, 1967: Monterey Pop Festival, Horse Show Arena, County Fairgrounds, Monterey, CA

Otis Redding/Booker T and The MGs/Jefferson Airplane/Laura Nyro/The Byrds/Hugh Masakela/Moby Grape/Steve Miller Blues Band/Quicksilver Messenger Service/Electric Flag/Butterfield Blues Band/Al Kooper/Country Joe and The Fish/Big Brother and The Holding Company/Canned Heat

This was the middle day (Saturday) of the Festival. Acts listed in reverse running order (Otis Redding closed the evening).

June 17, 1967 Athletic Field, Monterey Peninsula Junior College, Monterey, CA: Grateful Dead/Eric Burdon and The Animals/Country Joe and The Fish/Steve Miller Band/others
The Grateful Dead did not entirely approve of the organization of the Monterey Pop Festival, and at their insistence the athletic field across from the Fairgrounds was available for camping. There was also a free stage, and the Dead and some other bands performed. Some eyewitnesses put the Steve Miller Band there, which seems logical, as it was a great opportunity to get heard, but of course no ones memories are very clear.

June 20-21, 1967: New Orleans House, Berkeley, CA Steve Miller Blues Band

June 22, 1967: Bandshell, Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, CA: Steve Miller Blues Band/Sons of Champlin/Ridge Runners free concert
The San Francisco Examiner sponsored free Thursday afternoon concerts from 1:00-3:00pm in the Golden Gate Park Bandshell, with Examiner music critic Phil Elwood as the MC. This was the first one. Supposedly, this was Boz Scaggs debut with the Miller Band, but the dates don't quite line up. The Ridge Runners were a band from nearby St. Ignatius High School.

June 24, 1967: Earl Warren Showgrounds, Santa Barbara, CA Chambers Brothers/Steve Miller Blues Band/Canned Heat

June 25, 1967 Provo Park, Berkeley, CA Steve Miller Blues Band/Loading Zone/Cleanliness and Godliness Skiffle Band/Motor free concert

June 27-July 2, 1967: Fillmore Auditorium, San Francisco, CA Chuck Berry/Eric Burdon and The Animals/Steve Miller Blues Band

Steve Miller Blues Band backed Chuck Berry, released on lp Chuck Berry Live at the Fillmore (Mercury Nov 67). This was The Steve Miller (Blues) Band's first appearance on an album. Steve Miller duets with Chuck on "It Hurts Me Too."

July 1, 1967: Greek Theatre, UC Berkeley, CA Doc Watson/Steve Miller Blues Band/Sam Hinton/Cleanliness & Godliness Skiffle Band/Charley Marshall/The New Age

UC Berkeley Folk Festival “Freedom Concert” 8:00 pm, Saturday Night.

The Steve Miller Band was listed for the Saturday nighttime concert at the Berkeley Folk Festival, but there was an inherent conflict with the Fillmore. Given that they would have been playing four sets over six hours (two of their own and two backing Chuck Berry), they probably didn’t play on Saturday night. More likely they appeared at the Sunday afternoon concert the next day at the Greek Theatre.

July 6-9, 1967: Avalon Ballroom, San Francisco Steve Miller Blues Band/Siegal Schwall Band

Somewhere around this time, guitarist Curly Cooke quits the Steve Miller Band. The group plays as a 4-piece for a little while, but they realize that the band sounds better with two guitarists. Miller puts in a call to another old friend, this time from prep school in Texas.

July 9-10, 1967: California Hall, San Francisco, CA Steve Miller Blues Band/The Sparrow

July 14-15, 1967: California Hall, San Francisco, CA Steve Miller Blues Band/Sunshine Company/Anonymous Artists of America

July 17-20, 1967: The Matrix, San Francisco, CA Steve Miller Blues Band/Mother Earth

This photo was taken at Buckeye Ranch in Lafayette on July 26, 1967. Memories are vague. Based on other photos, this guitarist is playing in front of Country Joe and The Fish's equipment. Note the reel-to-reel tape recorder, possibly for sound effects. The perfomer may be Steve Miller.

July 22, 1967: Casa Loma Swim Club, Lafayette, CA Country Joe and The Fish/Steve Miller Band/New Salvation Army Band/Roger Collins/Majestic Sound/Don Holland/Clark Miller Trio/Maggie’s Farm/The Virtues/Blue Union/Frumious Bandersnatch/Opus Three

The Oakland Tribune (in its July 26, 1967 edition) reported that after this 12-hour “Happening” on private property (at the Buckeye Ranch on the end of Springhill Road) the Contra Costa County District Attorney filed an injunction against the organizer, alleging zoning violations related to traffic and noise. The organizer was expecting 6,000 fans, but only 2,000 showed after a court order “ruined” the show. Only six of the twelve groups played, including CJF, Miller and Salvation. Country Joe and The Fish were named in the injunction. I have written elsewhere about some interesting, if fragmentary memories of this show. An unidentified photo may in fact be of Steve Miller, playing on Country Joe and The Fish's equipment, with a tape recorder. It is possible that the entire Miller band did not show up, since the event was flaky, and Miller fulfilled the obligation himself.

July 24-27, 1967: The Matrix, San Francisco, CA Steve Miller Blues Band/Mother Earth

July 28-29, 1967: Continental Ballroom, Santa Clara, CA Steve Miller Band/Kaleidoscope/Anonymous Artists of America

August 4-5, 1967: Crystal Ballroom, Portland, OR Steve Miller Band

There are reports that the Miller Band played some dates at the Crystal Ballroom in the Summer of 1967. The promotion of Crystal shows was murky in that Summer, and little evidence survives. The dates are just guessed, based on the Miller Band’s schedule. Crystal shows were on the weekend, generally both Friday and Saturday. 19-20 or 25-26 August are just as plausible.

August 9, 1967: New Orleans House, Berkeley, CA Steve Miller Blues Band

August 11-13, 1967: Fillmore Auditorium, San Francisco, CA Electric Flag/Steve Miller Blues Band/Southside Sound System

Although all three bands were based in the Bay Area, they all had deep roots in Chicago.

August 15-17, 1967: Fillmore Auditorium, San Francisco, CA Chuck Berry/Charles Lloyd Quartet/Steve Miller Blues Band

Although I have not been able to confirm this, there is good reason to assume the Miller Band backed Chuck Berry. It's also possible that some members of the band backed Chuck Berry, but not the guitarists (see Dec 26 '67 below). 

September 1-3, 1967: Avalon Ballroom, San Francisco, CA Steve Miller Band/Mother Earth/Bukka White

Per our Italian correspondent, Curley Cooke's last gigs with the Steve Miller Band were at the Avalon, probably these shows. Cooke recalled that he was quite sick and had a hard time playing. Cooke returned to Wisconsin for a while to recover. The Steve Miller Band played a few shows as a quartet (confirmed by Jim Peterman), but they realized they needed another guitarist and singer, so Miller got in touch with Boz Scaggs.

September 9, 1967: California Hall, San Francisco, CA Kaleidoscope/Steve Miller Band/Sopwith Camel/Southside Sound System/Hair/Mt. Rushmore

Benefit for Haight-Ashbury Free Medical Clinic

September 12-14, 1967: The Matrix, San Francisco, CA Steve Miller Blues Band/Peter Walker

Apparently, the Miller Band played a number of gigs without a rhythm guitarist, but the date of Boz Scaggs actual debut is unkonwn. Scaggs and Miller had played together in Texas when they were in school together. Scaggs had since gone to Sweden, where--strangely--he had made an album of folk songs, but he returned to San Francisco when Miller reached out. I have to assume that Boz' debut was at a club like the Matrix or the New Orleans House, rather than a larger show.

I don't have any specific evidence that Boz debuted at these Matrix shows, but the timing fits.

September 15-16, 1967: The Straight Theatre, San Francisco, CA The Steve Miller Band/Billy Roberts/Sopwith Camel/Notes From The Underground

Around this time, the Steve Miller Band starts to drop the "Blues Band" tag, although they are often billed that way anyway, since that is how they have been known.

September 19-20, 1967: New Orleans House, Berkeley, CA Steve Miller Band

>Fall, 1967: El Camino Park, Palo Alto, CA Steve Miller Band/New Delhi River Band

A free concert, confirmed by an eyewitness.

October 2-4, 1967: New Orleans House, Berkeley, CA Steve Miller Band

October 30, 1967: Fillmore Auditorium, San Francisco, CA Steve Miller Blues Band/Sopwith Camel/Mother Earth/Incredible Fish/Collectors
This KPFA Benefit was originally supposed to be headlined by Pink Floyd, on their first American tour. However, the band had visa problems and canceled their first American dates. Steve Miller Blues Band took their place. The above is a contemporary ad from the Berkeley Barb (h/t Ross). The Incredible Fish were Country Joe and The Fish but without Joe McDonald, who had temporarily left the band due to the usual "creative differences" (he rejoined a few months later, although the creative differences remain at issue).  The Collectors were a hip band from Vancouver.

November 14, 1967: North Face Ski Shop, San Francisco, CA Steve Miller Blues Band/Jesse Fuller

“Rite of Winter” presented by The North Face Ski Shop. 
North Face was the hip ski wear company started by Doug and Susie Tompkins, later famous with the Esprit clothing line. The store was at 308 Columbus. Unlikely as it may seem, the Steve Miller Band were not the first rock band to play the North Face, as the Grateful Dead had played the stores opening the month before. It appears that this event was to celebrate the second store, near the Stanford University campus.

November 15, 1967 North Face Ski Shop, Palo Alto, CA Steve Miller Blues Band/Jesse Fuller

“Rite of Winter” presented by North Face Ski Shop. 
North Face also had a store in the Old Barn near the Stanford Shopping Center. I'm not sure if this was a grand opening or not.

December 26-28, 1967: Winterland, San Francisco, CA The Doors/Chuck Berry/Salvation (26^th Fillmore)

December 29-30, 1967: Winterland, San Francisco, CA Chuck Berry/Big Brother and The Holding Company/Quicksilver Messenger Service

Wolfgang’s Vault has promulgated a tape of the first night’s Chuck Berry set (Dec 29). Berry plays a very fluid set with some nice guitar work, backed by (as the announcer calls it) “The Steve Miller-less Blues Band”, Jim Peterman on organ and Lonnie Turner and Tim Davis on bass and drums. Presumably the same group backed him all week.

For the next installment, see here.

Steve Miller Band Performance History October 1966-May 1967 (Steve Miller I)

The Steve Miller Blues Band at the Matrix on the weekend of December 20-23, 1966

While researching an extensive future project about rock concerts in Portland, Oregon in the late 1960s, I had to determine a date for a Steve Miller concert in Oregon and discovered that I had a fairly extensive record of early Steve Miller Band shows. Since I had no other plans for the information, I have decided to post the information here.

Steve Miller moved to Berkeley in October, 1966, and made his name as leader of The Steve Miller Band, who first came to fame at the Avalon and the Fillmore in 1967’s Summer of Love. History has made Steve Miller appear as a slick professional musician, an appellation Miller would be proud of. Nonetheless, endearingly, Miller remained friends with Country Joe McDonald, Chet Helms and other denizens from his scuffling days in Berkeley.

I am trying to identify all performances by The Steve Miller Band and Steve Miller himself from his arrival in California in October 1966 through the end of 1968. Anyone with additions, corrections, insights or memories should contact me directly or put them in the comments [2017 update: I am substantially updating the Steve Miller posts in honor of the 48th anniversary of Brave New World]

Background

Steve Miller, from Madison, Wisconsin, had been a successful musician in Texas and Chicago in 1965 and 1966. In Texas, he had a band with Boz Scaggs (who by 1966 had became a folk singer in Sweden, where he released a now-obscure album), and in Chicago he had a band with pianist Barry Goldberg, who taught him to name bands after himself. In the late Summer or Fall of 1965, Miller made a scouting trip to the Bay Area. Since there weren't many bohemian proto-hippie musicians yet, it's not surprising that Miller found himself staying at a house full of scuffling musicians near Telegraph Avenue and Russell Street. The house was behind a folk club and coffee house called The Jabberwock, on 2901 Telegraph.

Some of the musicians who lived in the house had a jug band called The Instant Action Jug Band, so named because they could spring into action at any time when the Jabberwock had no other performers. The membership was kind of fluid, since if anyone had another gig or a date they didn't play. According to Joe McDonald and Barry Melton, the future founders of Country Joe And The Fish, Miller not only stayed with them, but actually played with the Instant Action Jug Band as well. Miller was sold--he made plans to return to Berkeley.

October 16, 1966: The Fillmore, San Francisco, CA Butterfield Blues Band/Jefferson Airplane/Big Mama Thornton

Miller moved to Berkeley and lived in his VW Microbus. He visited the Fillmore on October 16, and joined in on stage for a jam with members of The Butterfield Blues Band and the Jefferson Airplane, invited on stage by his friend Paul Butterfield. When Miller announced he was moving to the Bay Area, the crowd cheered.

December ?, 1966: The Forum, Berkeley, CA Steve Miller Blues Band

Miller had visited SF in 1965 and he found the SF scene fun but unprofessional. However, having moved to the area, he called on old Madison friends Curley Cooke on guitar and Tim Davis on drums to join him in California, along with bassist Dick Personett (thanks to Italian correspondent Bruno for pointing this out). Personett, however, would only play the first few gigs and returned to the Midwest.
Miller's new band rehearsed over Thanksgiving weekend in the unlocked basement of Wurster Hall, the UC Berkeley Architecture building. According to Miller, he rapidly had a band that knew 25 tunes, “in tune and tight.” He found a gig for his band at a Berkeley coffee house on Telegraph Avenue (near Bancroft) called The Forum.

As December wore on, however, Miller began to run out of money. His gig at The Forum, however, lead to a paying gig at the Avalon, and the princely offer of $500 made sure he would not be forced to return to Chicago. To celebrate, Miller rented a room on College Avenue, and took his band to dinner and a movie.

The Datebook listings from the San Francisco Chronicle of December 16, 1966. The Steve Miller Blues Band and guitarist Steve Mann are opening at The Matrix. This was the first published listing for the Steve Miller Band

December 16-17, 1966: The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: Steve Miller Blues Band/Steve Mann
The Steve Miller Blues Band was booked at The Matrix, probably as a result of being seen at The Forum. In any case, once they were on an Avalon poster, even as an opening act, the Matrix could book them. Steve Mann was an astonishing fingerpicking blues guitarist, a successful session musician and a personal mess, with numerous health problems. Those who saw him play way back when--and that includes people like Jorma Kaukonen--say he was one of the most talented players in the Bay Area.

December 18-22, 1966: The Matrix, San Francisco, CA Steve Miller Blues Band/Congress of Wonders

December 23-24, 1966: Avalon Ballroom, San Francisco, CA Grateful Dead/Moby Grape/Steve Miller Blues Band

January 6-7, 1967: Avalon Ballroom, San Francisco, CA Quicksilver Messenger Service/Miller Blues Band
Dick Personett seems to have returned to the Midwest fairly quickly. Around this time, Miller replaced Personett with Berkeley bassist Lonnie Turner, whom he’d met at The Jabberwock on the previous year’s scouting trip. At the time, Turner was the bassist for a Berkeley band called Second Coming. It's not certain when Turner actually joined.

January 10-15, 1967: The Matrix, San Francisco, CA Steve Miller Blues Band

January 20-21, 1967: Avalon Ballroom, San Francisco, CA Lee Michaels/Miller Blues Band [added] 

January 24-27, 1967: The Matrix, San Francisco, CA Steve Miller Blues Band

A live tape from the date circulates with the date January 27, 1967.

February 10-11, 1967 Avalon Ballroom, San Francisco, CA Steve Miller Blues Band/Lee Michaels/Peanut Butter Conspiracy [added] 

February 17, 1967: New Orleans House, Berkeley, CA Steve Miller Blues Band

February 18-19, 1967 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA Steve Miller Blues Band 
Sometime in February of 1967, Miller flew out keyboard player Jim Peterman, also from Madison. In an interesting interview with Nick Warburton, Peterman explains that he came out and played some shows in February to see if he would fit in. It's not precisely certain which shows he played, but I assume he would have had some warmup gigs at a place like the Matrix before playing more high-profile shows like the Fillmore. The audition was a success, but Peterman wanted to finish his last three months of college at UW, so he did not join the band until late May.

February 19, 1967: California Hall, San Francisco, CA Country Joe and The Fish/Steve Miller Blues Band/Mime Troupe

“Port Chicago Vigil Benefit”

February 26, 1967: Fillmore Auditorium, San Francisco, CA BB King/Moby Grape/Steve Miller Blues Band [added] 

March 4, 1967: Steninger Hall, UC Medical Center Auditorium, San Francisco, CA Big Brother and The Holding Company/Steve Miller Blues Band/Robert Baker

“Journey To The End of The Night” Benefit for Peace

Steininger Hall was the auditorium of what later became UCSF, the med-school only wing of the University of California. It was several blocks uphill from the Panhandle. 

March 5, 1967: California Hall, San Francisco, Steve Miller Blues Band/Orkustra/Dino Valenti/SF Mime Troupe/The Committee/Richard Brautigan

“Bedrock One” CA “A Benefit for the Communication Company” A Rock Dance Happening Environment

The Communications Company was a sort of "newspaper" and printing press that printed a lot of broadsides in the Haight on behalf of the Diggers.

March 10-11, 1967: Avalon Ballroom, San Francisco, CA Quicksilver Messenger Service/Steve Miller Blues Band/Daily Flash

March 12, 1967: Fillmore Auditorium, San Francisco, CA Country Joe and The Fish/Big Brother and The Holding Company/Steve Miller Blues Band/Quicksilver Messenger Service 
“Phoenix Dance” Benefit for Aid to Vietnam and Mississippi

March 17-19, 1967: The Afterthought, Vancouver, BC Steve Miller Blues Band/Collectors

The Vancouver scene had many ties with San Francisco, and underground SF bands often played there.

March 22-23, 1967 Avalon Ballroom, San Francisco Quicksilver Messenger Service/John Lee Hooker/Miller Blues Band

This was a rare Wednesday-Thursday gig for the Avalon.

March 24-26, 1967: New Orleans House, Berkeley Steve Miller Blues Band

March 26, 1967: Elysian Park, Los Angeles, CA Burbank Easter Love-In

Grateful Dead/Steve Miller Blues Band/Sopwith Camel/Iron Butterfly/Clear Light/The Nazz/many others

The poster does not list the bands, and bands are only known from various accounts that are not 100% reliable. Doug Lubahn (bassist for Clear Light) does remember playing with the Dead and another SF band. The Alice Cooper list has The Nazz (newly arrived from Phoenix, later to become Alice Cooper) and Iron Butterfly (newly arrived from San Diego). A Commenter spoke with the late Curly Cooke, who specifically recalled playing the event.

March 30, 1967: Berkeley Community Theater, Berkeley, CA Jimmy Reed/John Lee Hooker/Charles Lloyd/Miller Blues Band

April 1, 1967: Main Auditorium, San Francisco State College 6th Annual Folk Festival Buffy St. Marie/Greg Ohrlin/Patrick Sky/Steve Miller Blues Band

April 1, 1967: Girls Gym, San Francisco State College 6^th Annual Folk Festival Dance Chambers Brothers/John Hammond and The Screaming Nighthawks/Steve Miller Blues Band

This event began at 11pm, part of the weekend’s folk festival. Possibly the Miller Band participated in the Sunday afternoon (April 2) finale as well.

An ad from the April 6, 1967 Sf Chronicle for the Steve Miller Band at the Rock Garden.

April 4-9, 1967: Rock Garden, San Francisco, CA Steve Miller Band/The Only Alternative and His Other Possibility with Kay Olsen/The Orkustra
The Rock Garden was a short-lived attempt to have a Fillmore style venue at in the neighborhoods. Now the venue is largely only remembered for some exotic, circular posters.

April 14-15, 1967: Avalon Ballroom, San Francisco, CA The Doors/Miller Blues Band/Hajibaba 

April 21-23, 1967: The Matrix, San Francisco, CA Steve Miller Blues Band

April 28-30, 1967: Fillmore Buffalo Springfield/Steve Miller Blues Band/Freedom Highway

The 30^th was an afternoon show.

May 5, 1967: Stockton Ballroom, Stockton, CA Steve Miller Band/The Plague
An obscure poster for this event has turned up. The Stockton Ballroom was a small ballroom that still exists. The show was presented by Green Grass

May 7, 1967: Freeborn Hall, UC Davis, CA Jefferson Airplane/Steve Miller Blues Band

May 13, 1967 Wurster Hall, UC Berkeley Steve Miller Blues Band
This was part of a campus event called The Beaux Arts Festival. Wurster was the new UC Architecture building. It is doubtful that the current configuration could handle a dance concert, but I assume the building was less full then.

May 15, 1967 Both/And Club, San Francisco Steve Miller Blues Band
The Both/And was a jazz club at 350 Divisadero, near the Haight. Rock bands sometimes played there as well, particularly on otherwise empty Monday nights like this one.

May 26-27, 1967: Fillmore Auditorium, San Francisco, CA Big Brother and The Holding Company/Steve Miller Blues Band

May 28, 1967: Provo Park, Berkeley, CA Steve Miller Blues Band, Mad River, Purple Earthquake
Bands played for free in Berkeley's main city park (at Grove and Allston), similar to how they played for free in Golden Gate Park.

For the next installment, see here.

June 10-11, 1967: Muhammad Ali Festival, Hunters Point, San Francisco, CA

One of the more mysterious events in San Francisco rock history is the "Muhammad Ali Festival," held in the Hunters Point district of San Francisco on June 10-11, 1967. This event is only known to me and my fellow historians from a poster in Paul Grushkin's fine book The Art Of Rock (plate 2.245, p.206, reproduced here). I have never read or heard an account of any band who recalls playing there or people who attended the event, and in fact I can not even be certain that the event occurred. Many surviving sixties posters promote events that were subsequently canceled, or changed dramatically, so the existence of a poster does not remotely insure the event occurred as planned. However, the tantalizing evidence of this poster suggests that whoever planned this festival had something different in mind than the typical Rock Festival in Golden Gate Park, which were common in the first half of 1967.

Since the reproduced poster can be hard to read, I will indicate the facts here. The header says "Muhammad Ali Festival-Hunters Point-Free-June 10-11." Hunters Point was a mostly African-American district of San Francisco, which had grown to prominence during World War 2, as many African Americans moved to San Francisco to work in the Naval Shipyards in Hunters Point (similar to Oakland, Richmond, Marin City and Vallejo). Free rock concerts in San Francisco, of which there were a lot at the time, had hitherto been in Golden Gate Park or nearer Downtown (Union Square, etc), so a free concert in an African American neighborhood was new territory, particularly a two-day event on Saturday and Sunday. Along with a 1969 Synanon Festival in Oakland, this show appears to be one of the very few efforts to merge white rock hippie festivals with the African American community, so whether the show succeeded or not is a much more interesting question than usual.

Muhammad Ali also had a unique status at this time. Besides his enormous status as an athlete (comparable to someone like Shaquille O'Neal), he had refused induction into the US Army as a Conscientious Objector, saying that it went against the teachings of The Koran. His famous remark "I ain't got no quarrel with them Viet Cong" made him a hero to many people who were not boxing fans. In 1964, Ali had changed his name from Cassius Clay, and this alone was unprecedented (most sports headlines still called him Clay), and making his religious beliefs the basis for refusing to be drafted made him a figure much larger than a mere a sports hero. In April, 1967 Ali was arrested for formally refusing his draft notice, and his trial was set for June 20. He was convicted, and although he was not jailed, he was stripped of his heavyweight title and did not box again until 1971. As a result, Ali crystallized opposition to the War, reflecting a man so principled that he gave up money and fame to do it.

Thus an event 10 days before Ali's trial that says "Muhammad Ali Festival" is self-evidently intended as a celebration of racial solidarity and opposition to the Vietnam War. Of course, that would be the hippie interpretation--whether the local community perceived it as supportive or patronizing is unclear. Some of the fine print says "Free Bar B-Q", which in California was effectively code for African Americans, although how black people might have felt out about it was completely unclear. There is also a small map of Hunters Point but I cannot discern the actual place where the festival was held.

No specific organizer or affiliations are identifiable for this event, so it makes me wonder how carefully it was organized. A lot of hippie events were thrown together kind of casually, and they did not always fall together gracefully: bands didn't show up, generators ran out of power, the cops hassled about permits, neighbors complained, and so on. Its impossible to say if this well-intentioned event had a chance of succeeding, much less whether it actually did.

As to the mystery of this event, it happened to take place on a particularly busy rock weekend in the Bay Area. A huge rock festival that was scheduled the previous weekend at Mt. Tamalpais in Marin had been delayed and rescheduled to the weekend of June 10-11. This all day event, featuring groups like The Doors, The Byrds, Jefferson Airplane, Country Joe and The Fish and a couple of dozen others, would have sucked away numerous people who might have considered journeying to Hunters Point. Numerous other people may have been saving up time or money to go to the Monterey Pop Festival the next weekend. Meanwhile, The Doors were at the Fillmore Friday and Saturday night (June 9-10), Big Brother and Canned Heat were at The Avalon all weekend (June 8-11) and Steve Miller Band was headlining California Hall on Friday and Saturday night as well.

The listed performers for this concert were not well known at the time, even if some of them have grown in stature since. The acts listed are:

Steve Miller Blues Band: a great group, but a year shy of their first album, and only known locally. Curley Cook was still on rhythm guitar, as Boz Scaggs would not join until later in the Summer.

Orkustra: A Haight Ashbury band that played all instrumental music, featuring future Manson Family member Bobby Beausoleil on guitar and David LaFlamme, later of Its A Beautiful Day.

The Loading Zone: an Oakland band that played both rock and soul clubs, they too were a year shy of their debut album.

The Charlatans: though Haight Ashbury legends, these pioneers were never actually that popular, and their first album did not come out until much later.

Ulysses Crockett and The Afro Blue Persuasion: Crockett was a Berkeley vibraphonist whose modern jazz sextet played a lot on Haight Street.

Phoenix: A San Francisco group that was still a year shy of their performing peak, although they never got the breaks they needed either.

Anonymous Artists of America: A Santa Cruz Mountains band who lived in a commune

SF Mime Troupe: Popular political theater group in the City

The Committee: Improvisational theater troupe, based on Broadway in North Beach

Sonny Lewis Quintet, Haight Street Jazz Band, Raquels, Earth: all unknown to me.

One of the "acts" says "Gonga Drums", which I take to be an informal drumming group, common in Golden Gate Park and Sproul Plaza, and the Radha Krishna Temple. What the temple was providing isn't clear, although one assumes they all chanted. There are numerous initials, like "B.A.Q," "P.L.T's" and "B.J.", which may be code or who knows what. There are numerous assurances of "Surprise Guests," but of course there is no way of knowing.

To some extent, the fact that this event ended up taking place on a giant rock weekend during the Summer Of Love has pushed it into obscurity. Nonetheless, the poster remains a tantalizing curiosity about an event that was interesting whether it occurred or not.