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.

Kinetic Playground: 4812 N. Clark St, Chicago, IL Performance List 1968 (New! Improved!)

(h/t Brad for the scan of the July 24, 1968 poster)

[I have received so much great information about the Kinetic Playground that I am updating my original post]

Chicago is one of the world's great cities, by any accounting, and it has a musical heritage to match. While today it is mostly renowned for introducing electric blues to the outside world, Chicago has made memorable contributions to jazz, soul, folk and rock music as well. Chicago had always been a critically important outpost for any touring act, regardless of the style of music. While the weather in Chicago can be daunting, there has always been excellent public transportation and fearless cab drivers, so a patron can always get home at 4am when the bars close.

In the 1960s, Chicago was an essential stop for any rock band looking to make it big. Chicago fans love a good time, but they have high standards too, as the blues band playing down the street in Chicago was better than most blues bands headlining in London or San Francisco. The pace of the city and the barriers of the weather make Chicago fans enthusiastic about good performers and ferociously dismissive of pretenders. Any discussion about music with a Chicago rock fan will immediately lead to stories of over the top concerts that seem to happen every month (a friend of mine once described seeing fans tear apart the Chicago Opera House during a 1970 Iggy and The Stooges concert by saying "If I was born the night I saw Iggy, I'd be old enough to drink now"). Nevertheless, the history of sixties rock in Chicago remains unnecessarily scattered, so I will begin to rectify that now.

Despite, or perhaps because, of its financial importance, Chicago did not have a single venue that was Nationally recognized like The Fillmores. The city of Chicago had numerous old buildings that could easily be converted to rock concert duty, even if all of the buildings had a variety of flaws. As a result, the late 1960s and early 1970s saw numerous venues rise and fall, such as The Cheetah, which became The Aragon Ballroom (at 1106 N. Lawrence) and the Chicago Coliseum, which became The Syndrome (on Wabash Avenue). Other venues were also regularly used for rock shows, like The Auditorium Theater and  the International Amphitheatre. However, Chicago's principal stop on the 60s rock circuit was The Kinetic Playground, at 4812 N. Clark Street.

4812 N. Clark Street was originally known as The Rainbo Gardens, and it was a sort of dance hall and entertainment center. It was used for various functions over the years, but in 1968 Brooklyn-born promoter Aaron Russo (then 24 years old) took over the ballroom. The building itself was somewhat larger, and included a skating rink, but Russo opened a rock nightclub in the former Rainbo Gardens Ballroom on April 3, 1968, and named it the Electric Theater. Russo had worked in his family's garment business and put on rock shows as a High School student, so despite his young age he was well prepared for the cutthroat rock business.

The Electric Theater opened in April of 1968, and by June, 4812 N. Clark Street in Chicago was an essential stop on the "Fillmore Circuit." Bands that played such venues as the Fillmores, the Boston Tea Party and The Electric Factory always played on N. Clark Street as well. Talent agent Frank Barsalona, all but single-handedly responsible for breaking English bands in America, made The Electric Theater a critical stop for his bands, and many of the most legendary concerts in Chicago were early appearances by groups like Led Zeppelin, Jethro Tull and Ten Years After.

What follows is my working list of known performances at 4812 N. Clark Street, as both the Electric Theater and later the Kinetic Playground. It appears that it was only open on weekends, but there may have been additional shows that I am not aware of. This list has been constructed from surviving handbills and from the chronologies of the various bands. The existing handbills for the venue are primarily just lists of upcoming shows, with little in the way of collectible or interesting artwork, so Chicago handbills did not stay on people's dormitory walls the way posters did from San Francisco or Detroit, making research somewhat harder.

I believe the venue was open every weekend, even in the Winter, from April 3, 1968 until November 7, 1969, so there are many more shows to be discovered. Anyone who has additions, corrections and memories (real or imagined) regarding shows is encouraged to Comment or Email me. Thanks again to everyone who sent me amazing clippings, recollections and corrections in order to improve my previous post.

April 3-5, 1968 Electric Theater The Paupers
The Electric Theater opened on April 5 1968 with Toronto's Paupers as the headline act

April 23, 1968 Electric Theater Harumi

April 26-28, 1968 Electric Theater Little Boy Blues/The Rush

May 3-4, 1968 Electric Theater Siegal Schwall Blues Band

May 10-11, 1968 Electric Theater Finchley Boys

May 17-19, 1968 Electric Theater Canned Heat

May 21, 1968--according to the Chicago Tribune, the police raided the Electric Theater and shut it down. I do not know for sure how long it was closed, but at least some of the following shows must have been canceled. I suspect they were up and running by the next weekend (Friday May 24), although the Friday entertainment music listings in the Tribune (below) had probably been prepared in advance.

May 22-26, 1968 Electric Theater Steppenwolf/Influence

May 31-June 2, 1968 Electric Theater James Cotton Blues Band/Holy Om
According to the Chicago Tribune (h/t Joe), James Cotton seems to have replaced Muddy Waters.

June 7-9, 1968 Electric Theater Love/Chicago Slim Blues Band

June 10, 1968 Electric Theater Loading Zone 
This was a Monday night show, probably a relatively rare occurrence. The Loading Zone were a San Francisco band getting a big push from RCA behind their debut album. The record company probably rented the hall for the night and distributed some (or all) tickets through radio stations.

June 12-15, 1968  Electric Theater Rotary Connection
Rotary Connection was a popular "psychedelic soul" band from Chicago. They recorded for a Chess subsidiary, and featured singer Minnie Ripperton. 

June 26-27, 1968 Electric Theater Hello People
June 28-30, 1968 Electric Theater Blue Cheer/Hello People
The Hello People were a peculiar mixture of mime, vocal harmonies and rock. I believe they headlined themselves on Wednesday and Thursday (26 and 27). Blue Cheer, at the time, touted itself as the loudest band in the world, with a tower of Marshall Stax turned up to the max. Who do you think Chicago liked better?

July 3-4, 1968 Electric Theater Country Joe and The Fish/Hawk
Besides being Berkeley's leading rock export, Country Joe and The Fish were acutely aware that the 1968 Democratic Convention would be held in Chicago from August 25-29.

July 5-7, 1968 Electric Theater Rotary Connection/The McCoys/Growin Concern
Rotary Connection seems to have been the only Chicago-based headliner in 1968, but of course since we do not have a list yet of every show, I don't know if that was entirely true. The McCoys, from Indiana, were trying to remake themselves into a psychedelic blues band, which was a long way from "Hang On Sloopy."

July 12-14, 1968 Electric Theater Spirit/Peanut Butter Conspiracy/T.I.M.E
Although the dates are slightly approximated (the Chicago Tribune said "this weekend"), all the groups were from Los Angeles. Spirit were rising stars, and Peanut Butter Conspiracy somewhat fading ones. T.I.M.E was connected to the Steppenwolf/Toronto crowd, now relocated to LA.

July 17-21, 1968 The Electric Theater Earth Opera/Sunshine Company (19&20)
Thanks to a Commenter, we know from a flyer that Peter Rowan and David Grisman's baroque-psychedelic-folk rock band, Earth Opera, headlined for a four day stretch, joined by the airy pop of the Sunshine Company (from LA) for the last two days.

July 24, 1968 Electric Theater Jefferson Airplane/Iron Butterfly (two shows)
Note the nice poster above. I don't know how many shows had custom posters.

July 25-28, 1968 Electric Theater Iron Butterfly

August 1, 1968 Electric Theater The Who 

Soon after the opening of The Electric Theater, a well-known New York "hippie discoteque" called The Electric Circus had sued the Electric Theater for copying its trademark (or something like that). For whatever reasons, Aaron Russo ultimately changed the name of his club to The Kinetic Playground. Some flyers still included some representation of the name Electric Theater (like "The Electric Theater Presents At The Kinetic Playground"). It appears that the sound company associated with the club retained the name Electric Theater, and many Chicagoans seemed to have used the names Electric Theater and Kinetic Playground interchangeably. 

August 9, 1968--the club officially changed its name to The Kinetic Playground (per the Trib)

August 14-15, 1968 Kinetic Playground Mothers Of Invention/Canned Heat
Earlier ads featured Julie Driscoll and Brian Auger, but it appears that Canned Heat took their place.

(a clip from the Chicago Tribune entertainment listings for Tuesday, August 16, 1968--h/t Joe)

August 16-17, 1968 Kinetic Playground Mothers Of Invention/Them
This would have been a Tuesday and Wednesday night, but Frank Zappa was much beloved in Chicago and this would have still been a very big deal. Van Morrison had left Them two years earlier, but the 1968 configuration was still apparently a pretty good live band.

August 18, 1968 Kinetic Playground Them/Litter

August 24, 1968 Kinetic Playground Litter/Bangor Flying Circus

August 30, 1968 Kinetic Playground Litter/Nova

August 31, 1968 Kinetic Playground Nova/Chicago Slim Blues Band
Chicago Slim Blues Band replaced Chicago Transit Authority, who had been advertised earlier.

September 1, 1968 Kinetic Playground Litter/Nova
The groups replaced Pink Floyd, who canceled. 

September 2, 1968 Kinetic Playground Eric Burdon and The Animals

September 6-7, 1968 Kinetic Playground Procol Harum/Mandrake Memorial
September 8, 1968 Kinetic Playground Mandrake Memorial

Mandrake Memorial were Philadelphia's leading underground psychedelic band. 

September 13-14-15, 1968 Kinetic Playground Illinois Speed Press/Pride
Pride was the new name for the Lemon Pipers  

September 20-22, 1968 Kinetic Playground Kensington Market

October 4-6, 1968 Kinetic Playground John Mayall/Pacific Gas & Electric

( a clip from the music listings of the Chicago Tribune for Thursday, October 10, 1968--h/t Joe)

October 11, 1968 Kinetic Playground Jeff Beck Group/Pacific Gas & Electric/Fever Tree

October 12-13, 1968 Kinetic Playground Rotary Connection/Pacific Gas & Electric/Fever Tree
P,G & E were a Los Angeles blues-rock band. Fever Tree was often thought to be a Bay Area band, because of their hit "San Francisco Girls" but in fact they were from Houston, TX.

(a clip from the Chicago Tribune entertainment listings on Friday, October 18--h/t Joe)

October 18, 1968 Kinetic Playground Steppenwolf/Ten Years After
October 19-20, 1968 Kinetic Playground Ten Years After
At this time, Steppenwolf were huge stars, and Ten Years After were just another up and coming English band. They were probably on their second American tour at the time. Ten Years After made it big by touring constantly, and no city loved them more than Chicago.

October 21-22, 1968  Kinetic Playground Moody Blues/Rotary Connection

October 25-26, 1968 Kinetic Playground Quicksilver Messenger Service/SRC

November 1-2, 1968 Kinetic Playground Moby Grape/Eire Apparent/Rotary Connection (1 only) 

November 8, 1968 Kinetic Playground Spencer Davis

November 9, 1968 Kinetic Playground Canned Heat

November 15-16, 1968 Kinetic Playground Moody Blues/Charles Lloyd

November 22-23, 1968 Kinetic Playground Blue Cheer/Creedence Clearwater Revival

November 27-28, 1968 Kinetic Playground Grateful Dead/Procol Harum/Terry Reid

November 29-30, 1968 Kinetic Playgroud Tim Buckley/Terry Reid/Canned Heat

December 6-7, 1968 Kinetic Playground Buddy Miles Express/Deep Purple
Buddy Miles was the headliner, as Deep Purple was not yet well known. This was the original version of Deep Purple, best known for the song "Hush," and featuring Rod Evans on vocals.

December 13-14, 1968 Kinetic Playground Iron Butterfly/Group Image

December 20-21 Kinetic Playground New York Rock and Roll Ensemble/Amboy Dukes/Charlie Musselwhite

December 22, 1968 Kinetic Playground Rotary Connection

December 31, 1968 Kinetic Playground The Byrds/Muddy Waters/Fleetwood Mac

For 1969 shows, see the original post here. I will continue to update this post as more information comes in, and re-post when there is enough information. Thanks again to everyone who helped.

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. 

307 Church Street, Santa Cruz, CA Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium, May 28, 1966: Jefferson Airplane/Mystery Trend/Flowers Of Evil

(left: a scan of the flyer for the Jefferson Airplane/Mystery Trend/Flowers of Evil concert at Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium on May 28, 1966)

Santa Cruz, California, foggy and beautiful on the Northern edge of Monterey Bay, isolated from the Bay Area by mountains yet easily accessible by car to San Jose and San Francisco, is renowned as a haven for free thinking, software and surfers. Santa Cruz most prominent institution is a famous branch of the University of California. UCSC's motto is Fiat Slug, a mock-Latin reference to the school mascot, the Banana Slug. Recently, UC Santa Cruz had the unique honor of becoming the repository of the Grateful Dead Archives, including all the contracts and letters sent to and from the Dead office over the decades.

Santa Cruz had been more or less a logging town in the 19th century, but had evolved into a resort town by the earliest twentieth century. Once Highway 1 to San Francisco and Highway 17 to San Jose were completed (by 1941), the town became more accessible, although growth was slow. The little city remained sleepy and seasonal until UC Santa Cruz opened in the Fall of 1965. The Santa Cruz Mountains were full of underused holiday resorts and abandoned logging towns, and all sorts of characters had taken refuge there, Ken Kesey and Ken Babbs of the Pranksters among them. It would seem that with a new University, all the bands in San Francisco and acid in the hills, Santa Cruz would be ripe to explode with a happening psychedelic rock scene.

Downtown Santa Cruz seemed to have all the ingredients for a happening little 60s scene: geography that created some isolation, while near enough to cities to provide bands; a captive audience of young people at the University and cheap, transitional housing for various scenemakers. All that would have been needed would have been an appropriate venue, and Santa Cruz had that too. The Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium at 307 Church Street (at Center) was a charming Art Deco building completed in 1940, capacity 2,000. It would seem likely that the Civic would have been a petri dish for San Francisco and San Jose bands looking for extra shows, with students providing a ready audience and freaks in the hills providing light shows and general madness. Yet this May 28, 1966 show headlined by the Jefferson Airplane was one of only two rock shows at the Santa Cruz Civic that I know of during the 1960s. What happened?

In May, 1966, the Jefferson Airplane would have been fairly unknown, even to college students, and AM radio reception was pretty sketchy in Santa Cruz. Perhaps some students knew "Its No Secret," but in general the Airplane would have been mainly a rumor that they had heard about. There is a chance that the Airplane played an on-campus event called "Spring Thing" (alluded to in a San Jose paper at the time), but I have not yet been able to pin that down. The Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium is not that near to the Campus, but since the Campus was up on a hill, anyone from Campus who was interested had few other entertainment options.  However, one tip-off to the thinking behind the Santa Cruz Civic show was the presence of The Mystery Trend.
The Mystery Trend--named because its members didn't quite understand Bob Dylan's lyrics to "Like A Rolling Stone"--were one of the first bands on the San Francisco underground scene, even though they were quite obscure even then. Many of the band members were artists as well as musicians, and they played some unique events. Their presence on the bill meant that someone in San Francisco had organized this show, as the Mystery Trend were only known in the cooler circles of the San Francisco underground. The Flowers Of Evil were a local band.

The Spring '66 Jefferson Airplane was not the powerhouse they would become, but they were still a hell of a band. Grace Slick was still in the Great Society, but Signe Andersen combined with Paul Kantner and Marty Balin to give a Weavers-like front line a rock and roll backing anchored by Jorma Kaukonen and Jack Casady. Soon-to-depart drummer Skip Spence wasn't as rock solid as Spencer Dryden (whose first show was probably June 6, 1966), but he held down the chair well enough. Folk rock was still a new thing in California, and while The Byrds were the premier exponent, Jefferson Airplane would have been pretty impressive to young people who hadn't seen them.

My only source for what happened next was some comments on Message Boards and an email from a then-teenager who went to the show, but it appears that the Airplane were way too successful. I have no idea how many tickets were sold, or if the show even made money, but the City Fathers of Santa Cruz were very bothered by the effect the Airplane had on the local youth (cue Paul Kantner smiling). Up until the University, the city of Santa Cruz had been quiet, business-like and Republican. Obviously the city saw financial advantages to the University, but they had not expected the Continental Divide of the 1960s.

Since the city controlled the Civic Auditorium, the city insured that no more rock concerts took place at the Civic Auditorium, thus ruining what should have been a great scene. Paradoxically, however, Santa Cruz's effective ban on rock concerts at the Civic brought to life an entirely different venue, in Scotts Valley, deep in the Santa Cruz Mountains: The Barn.

The Barn in Scotts Valley is a fascinating story in its own right, and some years ago we published my preliminary research on it. I have considerably more information today, but the thumbnail sketch is that Neal Cassady's prison psychiatrist (Dr. Leon Tabory) took over a Dairy-Barn-turned-Art-Gallery to provide a space for younger people to express themselves. The former Frapwell's Dairy Barn (built 1914) was just 7 miles North of Downtown Santa Cruz on Highway 17, towards San Jose. Scotts Valley itself was a sleepy rural community, not even incorporated as a town.

The earliest confirmed show I know of at The Barn was May 22, 1966, but there were probably some earlier shows. However, by the Summer of 1966, The Barn was just about the only hangout for longhairs outside of San Francisco, Berkeley and a few college coffeehouses. Hippies, bikers, Pranksters and other doubtful characters gathered almost every weekend to hear happening Underground bands. Scotts Valley was nestled in the Mountains, and despite efforts of the County Sheriff,  unincorporated Scotts Valley lacked the power to shut it down.

If Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium had been available as a rock venue, it would have easily trumped The Barn. Yet the city of Santa Cruz, exercising its atrophied conservative muscles, perhaps for the last time, blocked rock concerts at the Civic and paved the way for The Barn. The Barn etched vivid (if not always precise) memories on most or all of the people lucky enough to attend or work there, but its unique isolation was only viable because Santa Cruz blocked the Civic.

The community of Scotts Valley managed to close The Barn for a few months in 1967 (it was closed from April to June), but in fact the struggle against the venue was one of the principal motivators to incorporate the town. Once the town of Scotts Valley was incorporated, it was easy to shut down The Barn for good. Owner Leon Tabory was struggling financially anyway, and the building became home to the Baymonte Christian School. Some decades later, the Barn was torn down to build a parking lot for the Baymonte Christian School (the address of the school is 5000B Granite Creek Road, Scotts Valley, CA 95066).

Aftermath
March 25, 1967 Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium: The Sacred Cow Presents Quicksilver Messenger Service/The Sparrow/Blue Cheer
Somewhat mysteriously, there was another psychedelic rock show at the Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium, on March 25, 1967. Presented by The Sacred Cow (a name I have seen occasionally on posters), it featured not only Fillmore headliners Quicksilver Messenger Service, but two hip underground San Francisco bands. The presence of The Sparrow and Blue Cheer, both quite unknown outside of The Matrix at this time, clearly indicates a San Francisco promotion. This one-off show does not quite fit the narrative I have proposed above, and yet it seems to be the only exception.

A comment I read on a message thread, impossible to verify, suggested that the promoters claimed that the show was sponsored by the Catholic Archdiocese, and the concert was some sort of Church-sponsored Easter teenage dance. The subterfuge did not go down well, and any chance for a change of heart by the city of Santa Cruz with respect to rock concerts at the Civic Auditorium for the balance of the 1960s was lost.

In the early 1970s, Santa Cruz began allowing rock concerts at The Civic. Bill Graham Presents began using the modest venue for extra nights and out-of-town warmups, and there were many tremendous shows there for most of the 70s and 80s.

This post has been pieced together laboriously over the years from the most fragmentary bits of information. I have proposed a plausible hypothesis for the absence of rock shows in downtown Santa Cruz in the late 1960s, but I recognize that at best I only know part of the story. Any former Santa Cruz residents who recall other Civic dynamics at the time, or Cowell and Stevenson College students who remember the early days (or Crown, Merrill or College Five students who heard tales) are encouraged to Comment or email me.

895 O'Farrell Street (at Polk), San Francisco, CA The Western Front

(a poster for the Western Front concert featuring The Youngbloods, Wildflower and Initial Shock on December 1, 1967. h/t Ross for the scan)

The Western Front is a very obscure rock venue in San Francisco, only open in 1967, and mainly known only to poster collectors. I don't think it was ever financially successful as a rock venue, and it's only through posters that we know of the venue at all. Although we know of some 1967 shows, I can't say I'm aware of any review, tape or eyewitness account of any of the psychedelic rock shows from 1967.

Nonetheless, The Western Front has an interesting history that provides an interesting reflection on the commercial history of rock music in San Francisco. The information posted here is the best available to me at this time. For reasons that will become clear, this is an exceedingly difficult venue to research, but anyone with useful information is encouraged to Comment or email me (and let me know if I can post it).

The Psychedelic Cattleman's Association
The original "Family Dog" partnership had formed in a house on Pine Street called "The Dog House" (because of various dogs that lived there). The first three Family Dog dances were produced by a quartet of House residents: Luria Castell, Alton Kelly, Jack Towle and Ellen Harmon. The 1965 shows were hugely successful, but the residents were not really prepared to ride the horse, and Chet Helms and others took over. By 1967, however, it was clear that Helms and Bill Graham had taken the Family Dog's initial concept--itself directly inspired by goings on at the Red Dog Saloon in Virginia City, Nevada in Summer 1965--and founded thriving businesses. The original partners, although they had given up the Dog name willingly, were now looking to get back into the rock promotion business.

Calling themselves the Psychedelic Cattleman's Association, the quartet promoted a series of concerts at the newly opened Western Front, at 895 O'Farrell at Polk, near the Tenderloin district in San Francisco. The venue was only 4 blocks from the Avalon, and the impressive connections of the founding partnership netted a dramatic Kelly-Mouse poster and an impressive opening night lineup. In his June 28 Chronicle column (above), Ralph Gleason wrote:

tonight at Polk & O'Farrell, a new rock place called The Western Front is opening with Big Brother & The Holding Co., The Quicksilver Messenger Service, The Segal Schwall Blues Band [sic], the Charlatans, the Congress of Wonders and the Bill Ham-Jerry Granelli-Fred Marshall music-and-light show, "Light-Sound-Dimension."

The Quicksilver and Big Brother are there only tonight. The rest of the show remains through the weekend. 

Western Front is open six nights a week. They are appealing for a dance permit next week. Meanwhile it's concert style only. The place is reputed to be larger than the Fillmore, incidentally.

The Cattlemen had a venue and the connections, but an archaic San Francisco law required a City Permit in order to allow dancing. These permits were used as a means of control by various forces in San Francisco, and in particular were used to prevent rock venues where communities didn't want them located. Despite San Francisco's historical reputation as Baghdad-By-The-Bay, in the 1960s it was still very much like Footloose-By-The-Bay. Opening without a dance permit meant that people could listen to Quicksilver and Big Brother, but if they began to dance they would be arrested (try it at home: get in the mood, stand up and put on the first Quicksilver album--how long before they take you downtown?). The police had a vested interest in shutting down hippie venues, and arresting dancers who may have been carrying illegal substances was a proven method of harassing venues.

The Psychedelic Cattleman's Association put on another show the next weekend (July 7-8) with Sandy Bull, The Hobbits and Light-Sound-Dimension, a less dance-oriented billing, but as far as I know the venue went dark after that. I have to assume the PCA did not get their dance permit, and Bill Graham and Chet Helms were spared a competitor that had uber-hip underground connections, if little business experience.

The Western Front re-opened in late September. I do not know if they had received a Dance Permit by this time. Because a surviving poster (left) from September 22-23 does not say "Dance" I would assume that the venue had not received the Permit. There were shows for the next six weekends, although no sign of any sort of "six days a week" program.

I do not know who was promoting the Western Front at this point. I would have to assume that if the Cattleman's Association (the original Dog quartet) had still been the driving force, it would have been clearer from the poster. On the other hand, the San Francisco rock Underground was still quite small in 1967, and everyone knew each other, so the shift in management may not have been major.

The brief run of shows through October (below) is fascinating to rock historians, as they featured a series of interesting bands, many of which had just moved to San Francisco. Its important to remember, however, none of the albums who played the Western Front in September and October had released an album yet, and they were all quite obscure at the time. I do not know of a review or tape of any of these shows, or even an eyewitness account.

September 22, 1967 The Other Half/Freedom Highway/Peace
The Other Half had relocated from Los Angeles, but I believe Craig Tarwater had taken over the lead guitar duties from the legendary Randy Holden. Freedom Highway had formed in San Francisco, but they had moved to Marin by this time. The band Peace is unknown to me.

September 23, 1967 The New Delhi River Band/Mad River/The Other Half
Palo Alto's New Delhi River Band (who included David Nelson and Dave Torbert) were popular in the South Bay, but were struggling to attract attention outside of their home turf. This was one of their few San Francisco performances.

Mad River had moved to the Bay Area from Yellow Springs, OH in Spring 1967, and had taken up residence in Berkeley. They ultimately released two albums and became quite legendary, but at the time they were just another band trying to make it.

September 28-29, 1967 Blue Cheer/Wildflower/Jesse Fuller
Blue Cheer were becoming popular around the Bay Area from constant performing, but they were still some months shy of their recording debut Vincebus Eruptum.

The Oakland based Wildflower had been together since late 1965, a rarity for psychedelic bands. While an excellent live band who were present at the beginning of the scene, they had been unable to capitalize on their early arrival. The band did have a following, however, which was probably while they could headline two nights.

Oakland's Jesse Fuller was a unique artist, a sort of bluesman who wrote his own songs, many of which were covered by rock artists.


October 6, 1967 Sons Of Champlin/Frumious Bandersnatch/Morning Glory
The poster for October 6 says "Dance Lesson." The previous week, the Straight Theater, another venue having Dance Permit problems, had offered "Dance Lessons," followed by three hours of dance practice, accompanied by the Grateful Dead. No doubt the Western Front was following their lead.

Marin's Sons Of Champlin were remaking themselves from a sort of Beatles style band into a psychedelic R&B band, but although they would have an extensive career--they're still touring and have a loyal fan base--at this time they weren't fully established as a hip band yet.

Frumious Bandersnatch, while founded in Lafayette, CA, in Contra Costa County, were currently based in industrial West Oakland. This configuration of the Frumious was more Airplane-like, with a female vocalist. This lineup broke up in late 1967, when their equipment was stolen, and the group returned to the wilds of Lafayette and re-appeared with a new triple guitar sound in Spring 1968.

Morning Glory were from Marin. Their album on Fontana (Two Suns Worth) did not come out until 1968.

October 7, 1967 The Sons Of Champlin/Frumious Bandersnatch/Initial Shock
Initial Shock were from Montana, of all places. The group had been playing there because one member was assigned to an Air Force base there. When he got out, the group relocated to San Francisco. This was one of their earlier shows in the Bay Area.

October 13-14, 1967 Morning Glory/Indian Head Band/Peace
The posters say "Dance Academy" from here on, again apparently following the Straight Theater's lead.

Indian Head Band were from Castro Valley, then just a rural farming town in the East Bay (now a prosperous commuter suburb). They played improvised "Raga Rock," featuring guitarist Hal Wagenet and a female vocalist with operatic training. Wagenet later joined Its A Beautiful Day.

October 20-21, 1967 Blue Cheer/Other Half/Wildflower

October 27-28, 1967 Charlatans/Anonymous Artists Of America/Frumious Bandersnatch
The Charlatans had of course started it all in June 1965 at the Red Dog Saloon in Virginia City, NV, but nothing had gone right for them since then. Despite their name recognition, they didn't have a large following.

The Anonymous Artists Of America had been based in the Santa Cruz Mountains, just outside of Palo Alto. Around this time they relocated to Potrero Hill in San Francisco, although I am not certain of the timeline yet. They featured a primitive synthesizer called a Buchla Machine, and played weird improvised music.

I do not know of other shows at The Western Front until December.

December 1-3, 1967 Youngbloods/Wildflower/Initial Shock
This show (poster up top) featured The Youngbloods, who had relocated to San Francisco in September 1967, and had two albums under their belt, along with a modest hit called "Get Together" (its re-release in 1969 became much more famous). The more substantial booking, along with the month gap, leads me to think that this show was put on by a different promoter than the September-October run.

December 1967-June 1969
I know nothing for certain about the Western Front for the 18-month period between December 1967 and June 1969. I only know two other facts, and I can't date them definitively or even confirm them:

The Western Front served as the Grateful Dead's rehearsal hall 
I have heard this fact, but have been unable to confirm it. It is very hard to pin down dates of rehearsal halls, for obvious reasons. I would assume it was their rehearsal hall after the Potrero Theater (308 Connecticut Street) but before Novato, which would put it in this window, but I don't know for certain. In any case, I don't know whether it was their hall for a long or short period of time, if it even was.

Jim and Artie Mitchell promoted rock shows at 895 O'Farrell
Jim and Artie Mitchell were two brothers from Antioch, who played an important role--like it or not--in San Francisco in the 1970s and 80s. They also were instrumental in various events, such as FBI warnings on Videotapes (stemming from copyright cases) and commercializing lap dances (supposedly). For the purposes of this blog, however, I am only interested in the fact reported in a biography of the Mitchells (David McCumber's 1992 X-Rated) that the Mitchells promoted rock shows at 895 O'Farrell before figuring out a more lucrative use for the site. I have been unable to confirm this. I don't know how early the Mitchells were using 895 O'Farrell, and if they had any involvement in the above list of shows, whether they promoted other shows in 1968-69, or whether this is just a tall tale.

895 O'Farrell-Afterlife
895 O'Farrell became the Mitchell Brothers Theater, initially showing "adult" films, mostly made by the brothers themselves. Some of them were quite famous, as these things go, and the Mitchells were a big part of San Francisco's hedonistic 70s. The theater moved towards live performers, and a whole other series of legends and confrontations. Ultimately Jim shot and killed his brother Artie in a dispute in 1991, and went to prison for several years. Jim Mitchell died in 2007.

The Mitchell Brothers and their theater are infamous, and the theater remains open to this day (two doors down from the Great American Music Hall). I have avoided mentioning its specific history because it is outside of my scope and I am not interested in the search engine traffic that would come my way, but its interesting in an icky sort of way. Don't look into it if you're at work.

As a result of the Mitchell Brothers Theater, no revival of the Western Front was forthcoming. Needless to say, some efforts at researching the Mitchell Brothers revealed precious little about their efforts as rock promoters in the late 1960s, although they were both part of the hip underground scene in various ways. The Western Front has become another lost venue, with one famous poster and a few obscure ones, but the old Pontiac dealership seems to have had a considerably more interesting history than most sites, even if that history remains mostly untold.

(For a more elegant presentation of this material, with a thorough run of posters, see here)

4290 El Camino Real, Palo Alto, CA Cabana Hyatt House "Cabana '67 Presents 'Who Is Miss Boutique'"-Music By The New Delhi River Band

(a flyer for a Wednesday afternoon "hip" fashion show at Palo Alto's Cabana Hyatt House on June 28, 1967, with music by the New Delhi River Band--h/t Ross)

Palo Alto, California, home of Stanford University, played an essential role in 60s music. Palo Alto was the incubator for Ken Kesey's Merry Pranksters and the Grateful Dead, both of whose peculiar missions were transformed by early LSD experiments. Even though many of the seminal events in the early history of the Pranksters and The Dead (nee Warlocks) actually took place in neighboring Menlo Park (including the LSD experiments, at the VA Hospital on Willow Road), it was bohemian downtown Palo Alto that provided the nesting place. When the legendary Trips Festival at Longshoreman's Hall (on January 21, 22 and 23, 1966) exported the South Bay "Acid Tests" to San Francisco, the modern rock show was born. Groups like the Grateful Dead took flight at the Fillmore and Avalon ballrooms, and ad-hoc rock venues had sprung up around the country by 1967.

Despite its status as a "psychedelic start-up" (so to speak), Palo Alto itself was strangely bereft of musical action. When the psychedelic scene took root in the Haight Ashbury, the Grateful Dead and  others relocated to San Francisco. One participant at the time told me that the whole Palo Alto bohemian scene was a few dozen people, not counting Kesey's crowd, so it didn't take much to scatter the crew. Those who did not find urban San Francisco appealing found the then largely deserted Santa Cruz Mountains more hospitable. As a result, while progressive Palo Alto was considerably more friendly to long hair, protesters and loud music than most other South Bay towns, there were few actual hippies to provide the economic basis for a rock venue.

Palo Alto did have its own leading psychedelic band, The New Delhi River Band. The group had formed in June 1966, out of what was left of a folk rock band called Bethlehem Exit, which had been based in the Los Altos/Cupertino area just South of Palo Alto. The New Delhi River Band was based at a house on Channing Avenue (between Waverley and Cowper) in Palo Alto. Today, the New Delhi River Band is only known, if at all, as the first rock band for future New Riders Of The Purple Sage David Nelson and Dave Torbert. Although no recordings are known to survive, they played Butterfield-style blues, with a touch of R&B thrown in: typical sets apparently included "Young Blood" and "Suzie Q" along with Muddy Waters classics. The lineup of The New Delhi River Band (up until its final incarnation) was

• John Tomasi-vocals, harmonica
• Peter Sultzbach-lead guitar
• David Nelson-guitar
• Dave Torbert-bass
• Chris Herold-drums

Sultzbach had founded Bethlehem Exit in 1965, Tomasi and Herold had joined the group by 1966. David Nelson was living at the Channing Avenue house, on hiatus from playing bluegrass (foregoing the riches therein), and jammed with the Bethlehem Exit members. After an initial bass player did not pass muster at rehearsal (he was a converted guitarist), Dave Torbert was brought in.

I am working on the complete history of The New Delhi River Band--and quite a history it will be--but the shortest version is that by September 1966, the group was the house band at a remarkable place called The Barn in Scotts Valley, in the Santa Cruz Mountains. There were many hip, rocking bands in the South Bay in 1966 (such as The Chocolate Watch Band), but whatever the personal proclivities of the musicians, their audiences were more teenage and radio-oriented. In the Fall of 1966, outside of the Fillmore, the Avalon and near the Berkeley campus, there was no other place for older long hairs to congregate and hear their own music. The Barn put on shows just about every weekend from mid 1966 through April 1967, and hippies (and bikers and musicians) from all over the Bay Area went there.

Since the New Delhi River Band seems to have played at The Barn almost every weekend in Fall 1966 (the poster here features the NDRB on Friday, December 16, with the Anonymous Artists of America appearing the next night), sometimes multiple times, and regularly in early 1967 as well, they were a well known band in the tiny circles of the Bay Area underground. People in the extended "families" of the Family Dog or The Grateful Dead (albeit not the busy band members themselves) were regulars at The Barn, since there were few other places to go without drawing the unwelcome attention of the police or local yahoos. As a result, by mid-1967 the New Delhi River Band were regularly headlining concerts in San Jose and around the South Bay. These were modest venues, admittedly, but the NDRB was the cool underground band for the area, and they were based in Palo Alto.

To my knowledge, however, the mid-week fashion show on June 28, 1967 was the first paying gig in Palo Alto for the New Delhi River Band. The Grateful Dead had moved North at the first whiff of opportunity, but the NDRB had chosen to stay home. With The Barn closed in April of 1967, due to constant harassment from the Santa Cruz County Sheriff, the group lost their principal place to play. Although The Barn would reopen intermittently from June of 1967 through mid-1968, it stopped being a useful paying venue for a working band. The New Delhi River Band was thus left in the South Bay without an anchor venue.

The Cabana Hyatt House, 4290 El Camino Real, Palo Alto, CA
Palo Alto had been conceived by Leland Stanford as a sleepy college town, and it generally lived up to its founder's goals. Thus it was surprising when hotelier Jay Sarno opened the opulent Cabana Hotel in 1962 as a sumptuous luxury hotel in Palo Alto, 4 miles South of Downtown, near the Los Altos border. The wife of one of the investors said "Who's going to stay at a hotel like that in Palo Alto--and without gambling?"This initial prognosis turned out to be correct, but for a few years the hotel was a glittering swan in the Palo Alto Duck Pond. The Cabana Hotel's lasting fame in Palo Alto history came when the Beatles stayed overnight on August 31, 1965, prior to playing the Cow Palace. Room 810 is still designated the "Beatles Room" in the current hotel (although I have to assume all the band members got their own rooms).

In 1966, Sarno used the design of the Cabana Hotel as the basis for his new Las Vegas Casino, called Caesar's Palace. The garish, theme-oriented Caesar's was a pioneer establishment in modern Las Vegas for a luxurious gambling resort. Many of those elements could be seen at the Cabana Hotel, such as huge chandeliers, giant fountains and an upscale lounge with the name "Nero's Nook." By 1967, however, the Cabana had become the Cabana Hyatt House. The theme of elegance was maintained, but Sarno had already moved to Vegas, where such opulence belonged. Nonetheless, the Cabana Hyatt House was the Peninsula's "best" hotel, a regular site for debutante balls and Society fundraisers.

In California, at least, the confluence of the Fillmore and Swinging London had made Carnaby Street fashions stylish, at least for younger women. I assume that the boutiques (dress shops) advertised for the fashion show were smaller places on the Peninsula, but the names and the Wednesday afternoon "Tea" seem directed at the older daughters and younger wives of the Fashionable set in the South Bay. (I'm particularly curious about the Suzy Creamcheese Boutique).

On the Saturday prior to the 'Who Is Miss Boutique' show, the Grateful Dead and Big Brother and The Holding Company had headlined a Be-In at Palo Alto's El Camino Park (on June 24, 1967). The Be-in was well attended and went off without any problems, a sign of Palo Alto's benign tolerance. I have to assume that the members of the New Delhi River Band were present at The Be-In, not least since Nelson was old friends with both Jerry Garcia and Big Brother's Peter Albin. [update: I have since found out that the Be-In was four days after this event, on July 2, and that the NDRB played the event]. Four days later the NDRB would have found themselves at Palo Alto's most fashionable hotel, playing loud electric blues for pretty young women in miniskirts, all eating tea and sandwiches.

I have to wonder which event was stranger for Nelson and his bandmates: native sons of the South Bay--most of the Grateful Dead and Peter Albin of Big Brother--headlining a comparatively large outdoor concert as local heroes? Or finding the New Delhi River Band cool enough to lend some hip credence to a Society fashion show for young women who might not typically give a scruffy hippie blues band the time of day?



The former Cabana Hotel and Cabana Hyatt House is now the Crowne Plaza Hotel.

Frost Amphitheater, Stanford University, October 5, 1969 Sanpaku

October 5, 1969 Frost Amphitheater, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA Its A Beautiful Day/Mike Bloomfield-Nick Gravenites/Cold Blood/Southern Comfort/Sanpaku/Old Davis
Benefit for MidPeninsula Free University

 (Guitarist Mark Pearson, drummer Duane 'Motor' Timme and bassist Kootch Trochim of Sanpaku, Frost Amphitheater, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA Sunday October 5, 1969--h/t Michael Parrish for his great photo)
Sanpaku were originally from Sacramento. Initially called The Working Class, they spent a fabulous Summer in 1968 as the house band at Kings Beach Bowl on Lake Tahoe's North Shore, where they met the Grateful Dead and other bands. Sanpaku played the Tuesday night Fillmore West auditions, where they got heard by Bill Graham and signed to his management company. Well regarded, well connected, friends and jamming partners with groups like The Grateful Dead and Santana, they played numerous shows large and small throughout 1969.

Like many fine bands, however, it didn't happen for Sanpaku. I am compiling their complete performance history here (and the band's own blog is here); thanks to former Palo Alto resident Michael Parrish, however, we have some long ago photos of Sanpaku at Stanford University's, Frost Amphitheater on the sunny Sunday of October 5, 1969, part of a multi-act bill playing a benefit for the MidPeninsula Free University of Palo Alto and Menlo Park. This post--to some extent an excuse to show some great photos--will put some context around the pictures.

The Midpeninsula Free University, known as the MFU or "Free You" was an important part of countercultural intellectual life in the towns around Stanford University in the late 1960s. The MFU was an effort to make higher education relevant and forward looking, rather than traditional and stodgy. It may all seem like underwater basket weaving today, but major Universities like Stanford were quite threatened by efforts to provide an alternative to traditional higher education. Many of the instructors at the Free You had advanced degrees, and in some cases were even Stanford Faculty themselves. The Free You worked out of storefronts in the Palo Alto and Menlo Park downtowns, both near the campus.The story of the MFU is quite interesting, and well outside the scope of this blog, but their own website provides an in-depth history.

The MFU played an important part in South Bay rock history, however, because they regularly sponsored Be-Ins and free concerts at El Camino Park and elsewhere. While initially this was perceived as benign by Palo Alto residents, ultimately the size and scope of the free concerts at El Camino Park created a lot of tension between the MFU and the City of Palo Alto. The issue was only partially political, as Palo Alto has always been a progressive town; rather, Palo Alto has also always been a "hotbed of social rest" (as one writer put it), and the otherwise liberal residents didn't like noise and fuss.

By the end of 1968, the City of Palo Alto had found means to block the MFU from receiving a Permit to hold any more free concerts at El Camino Park, primarily by insisting on enforcing a noise ordnance. An unhappy compromise was reached, where some free outdoor events were held in 1969 at a Softball facility on the opposite side of town (at the Baylands, on 2775 Embarcadero, East of Highway 101). These windy, treeless and relatively distant events satisfied no one. As a result, the MFU decided to hold fundraising benefit concerts at Stanford's Frost Amphitheater. This of course, entailed much philosophizing, since the events weren't free, but they made for good concerts. There were two events, both on Sunday afternoon, the only day the University would allow the venue to be used.

The first MFU Benefit at Frost was held on August 17, 1969. The acts were

Sons of Champlin/Country Weather/Cold Blood/Fritz/Old Davis/Sunbear/Congress  of Wonders

The Sons of Champlin had headlined at least one MFU Be-In at El Camino Park the previous year. Country Weather (from Walnut Creek) and Cold Blood (originally from San Mateo) were popular bands around the Bay Area. All three of those groups had played the Fillmore West a number of times, albeit farther down on the bill. The Congress of Wonders was a trio of hip comedians who had played everywhere in the Bay Area.

Fritz, Old Davis and Sunbear were local bands. Fritz (whose full name was The Fritz Rabyne Memorial Band) were from Menlo Park, and are most famous today for their lead singer Stephanie (Stevie) Nicks and bassist Lindsey Buckingham. Old Davis were from San Mateo, and the next year would hire a teenage guitarist named Neal Schon.

(bassist Kootch Trochim, conguero Rico Reyes, trumpeter David Ginsberg and saxophonist Gary Larkey of Sanpaku, Frost Amphitheater, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA Sunday October 5, 1969--h/t Michael Parrish for his photo)

The first MFU benefit was a success, enough so that a second one was held on October 5. The acts were

Its A Beautiful Day/Mike Bloomfield-Nick Gravenites/Cold Blood/Southern Comfort/Sanpaku/Old Davis

Michael Bloomfield was a major star from his time in the Butterfield Blues Band and Electric Flag, but he was very erratic and I'm not sure he even showed up. Its A Beautiful Day had been a popular local band for over a year, but they were now riding high behind their debut album and the song "White Bird." Sanpaku and Southern Comfort were popular Bay Area club bands, and Cold Blood and Old Davis returned to play again. With five acts, the show probably went on from noon until at least 6 pm.  We can see from the photos that by modern standards the sound system and other gear was relatively modest. Of course, all the instruments and speakers in the picture would go for spectacular values on eBay today.

Michael Parrish, then a Palo Alto teenager, took photos of many of the acts at this show. Since I am honored to be the official historian of Sanpaku, he scanned his copies (the negatives are lost) and let me post them. He has photos--some from the original negatives--of some of the other acts, and they will be very special indeed. For now, we can enjoy the memories of a fine band on a sunny afternoon long ago.

(Organist Bob Powell, Guitarist Mark Pearson, drummer Duane 'Motor' Timme and saxophonist Gary Larkey of Sanpaku, along with an unnamed dog, at Frost Amphitheater, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA Sunday October 5, 1969--h/t Michael Parrish for great photo)

Appendix: Frost Amphitheater, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA 
Frost Amphitheater is a beautiful open air venue, dug out of an artificially constructed hill. 6,900 people can fit inside the grassy, terraced bowl. The Amphitheater was named for Laurence Frost, Stanford class of ’35, who died of polio at age 23. The Amphitheater was first opened in June, 1937, and for many decades was the site of Stanford’s commencement. The amphitheater, near the corner of Galvez and Campus (the entrance is near Laurel Street) rapidly became a treasured venue for music and theater performances.

Stanford University has always been careful about using Frost for too many events. In the 1960s, they limited rock concerts to weekend, afternoon events. A March 5, 1967 show headlined by Jefferson Airplane is the first (that I know of) of the few 60s concerts held there. In the 60s, Frost’s size actually made it too large for most concert attractions, and the University had no financial imperative to attract bigger shows.

In the early 1970, problems with fights and bottle-throwing (specifically at a July 18, 1971 Elvin Bishop/Cold Blood show) caused the University to ban rock concerts at Frost. After a October 1, 1972 show with Miles Davis (nominally a jazz show, although the New Riders Of The Purple Sage were also on the bill) was marred by people trying to get in for free (a breeze for agile locals who knew the grounds well) the University banned all shows at Frost, and all rock concerts moved to nearby Maples Pavilion. By 1975, however, the University relented and started to allow the occasional Sunday afternoon concert, as long as the band drew the “right” sort of crowd (no R&B, no metal, etc). Today, Frost Amphitheater remains a lightly used but extremely popular area venue.