The City of Oakland joined the major leagues when construction was finished on the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Complex. The Oakland Coliseum stadium became the home of the Oakland Raiders, who moved from their temporary football field near Laney College. The Raiders debuted at the new stadium on September 18, 1966. The stadium would also become the home of the newly-arrived Oakland Athletics on April 17, 1968. Just across the parking lot, the Oakland Coliseum Arena became the largest and most modern indoor arena in the Bay Area, taking prominence over the aging Cow Palace in Daly City and the mid-size San Francisco Civic Auditorium, both of them of pre-WW2 vintage. As a premier destination, it was no surprise that the Oakland Coliseum became a destination for major rock concerts.
A list of performers who have played the Oakland Coliseum Arena pretty much includes the entire Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame. It is a little-realized fact that the Grateful Dead played the Coliseum Arena more than any other single venue, including all the Fillmores, Winterland, Shoreline, Madison Square Garden, The Spectrum or any other venue. The mild Bay Area weather ensured that indoor temperatures in the Arena were always reasonable. Not only could the Arena hold 15,000 or more, it was located at the nexus of several freeways, it had great parking, and after 1972 it had direct public transport from the BART train. Any band that played the Arena could be certain that it was convenient for the entire Bay Area, from San Jose to San Francisco and beyond.
Like all good ideas, however, successful rock concerts at the Oakland Coliseum Arena did not reach fruition immediately. The second rock concert held at the Arena was an unmitigated disaster that seems to have dissuaded promoters from holding rock concerts there for some time. This post will look at the booking of Eric Burdon and The Animals, The Association and several other groups at the Oakland Coliseum Arena on Saturday, March 25, 1967. If anyone has additional information, insights, corrections or useful speculation, please include them in the Comments. Flashbacks welcome.
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| The Oakland Coliseum Arena under construction on July 19, 1966 |
During the British Invasion of the early 1960s, rock concerts were frequent occurrences, but they were treated more like "personal appearances" than musical performances. Most concert bills had numerous acts that played very short sets, and the vocals were carried over the arena's public address system. When the Beatles played the Cow Palace or Candlestick Park, for example, their solitary amplifiers were all that was broadcasting the guitar sounds. Since all the girls screamed, it was all inaudible anyway. Smaller concerts were less cataclysmic, but often no better amplified. Bill Graham, Chet Helms and the Fillmore changed all that.
When Bill Graham presented Jefferson Airplane at the Fillmore Auditorium on February 4 and 5, 1966, he initiated the modern rock concert as we know it. Graham had presented some benefit concerts already at the Fillmore, but he had also produced the Trips Festival at Longshoreman's Hall in late January. The Trips Festival, inspired by (and helped along by) LSD, was a multi-sensor immersion of sound and lights, not just music. Chet Helms, who had already produced Family Dog events with light shows, helped Graham with the production. When Jefferson Airplane played the Fillmore, it wasn't just a personal appearance, it was a presentation of art and culture, by and for the community. Rock concerts became something different that weekend.
By early 1967, Graham was putting on shows at the Fillmore every weekend, and Chet Helms had split off and was producing competing shows at the nearby Avalon. New bands were exploding out of the San Francisco underground, and record companies were signing up every group they could find. The biggest regular rock venue in the Bay Area, however, was actually in suburban San Leandro, about 16 miles Southeast of Berkeley. Most of the week the Rollarena was a skating rink, but on many Friday nights it was a home for rock and roll. A Rollarena concert could hold 2000 patrons, and that was more than the 1500 Bill Graham could fit in the Fillmore, much less than 1200 or so Chet Helms could get at the Avalon. The Rollarena promoter was Bill Quarry, who had been putting on shows continuously since 1964 in smaller halls. Quarry had moved to the Rollarena on New Year's Eve 1965, and had booked many Friday nights since then.
Quarry's "Teens 'N' Twenties" (TNT) promotions mostly featured East Bay bands, whether he was booking the Rollarena or smaller places. The bands were fairly professional, for young rock and rollers, but they weren't hippies. Some of the local bands had even released singles, but they were mostly playing covers for kids to dance. San Leandro had a big cruising scene on East 14th Street, just like in American Graffiti. The Rollarena was at 15721 East 14th St, at the edge of the huge Bay Fair Shopping Center. Bay Fair had built in the late 1950s on the site of the old Oakland Speedway. TNT shows were all about High School, or young men who had a job at the Fremont Ford plant, not the underground college crowd in the Haight-Ashbury on Telegraph Avenue.
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| Jefferson Airplane headlined the Rollarena in San Leandro for Bill Quarry on July 29, 1966. Jeff Beck and the Yardbirds were booked for the next month. Beck was sick, however, so bassist Jimmy Page took over the lead guitar duties. Fortunately, it worked out alright. |
Still, Quarry often bought in touring headliners for his Rollarena shows. Some of them had even played the Fillmore. Jefferson Airplane had headlined the Rollarena once, and Them had headlined, too. Before that show, out behind the Rollarena, Van Morrison had met San Leandro native Janet (Planet) Rigsbee, his future wife and the world's Brown-Eyed Girl. Yet rock was getting even bigger. Bill Graham had started using the 5400-capacity Winterland ballroom for a few shows, and the Rollarena was only available one night a week. So Quarry swung big, and booked the Oakland Coliseum Arena.
Eric Burdon And The Animals, 1967 Edition
The Animals had been on the harder edge of the British Invasion. Some groups like Herman's Hermits emphasized harmony singing, and seemed like nice boys a girl could bring home to their parents. The Animals, befitting their name, were supposed to scare those parents by enticing the innocent. The Animals had hits with "House Of The Rising Sun" and John Lee Hooker's "Boom Boom," all the way back in 1962. Lead singer Eric Burdon had a big voice and he could yell the blues. The Animals had hit after hit, including "We Gotta Get Out Of This Place" (1965) and "Don't Bring Me Down" (1966).
The Animals toured relentlessly, and Burdon was less and less happy with the pop machine that was the early 60s music industry. In August 1966, he had a break from an American tour and visited San Francisco. He went to the Fillmore and the Avalon and got to hang out with the local bands and hear them play in their native habitat. Burdon was an instant convert--perhaps after experiencing that rarest of events, a warm San Franciscan night. When he returned to England, he reconstituted the Animals into a psychedelic outfit.
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| Eric Burdon and The (New) Animals, ca 1967 (L-R:Barry Jenkins, John Weider , Eric Burdon, Danny McCulloch, Vic Briggs) |
The New Animals, as they were called,were a quintet that sounded kind of like Quicksilver Messenger Service with Burdon singing. They fit right in with the Fillmore scene. Interestingly, only Burdon had actually heard Quicksilver or any of the San Francisco bands, as none of those bands had recorded yet. His English compatriots were Vic Briggs and John Weider on dueling lead guitars, Danny McCulloch on bass, and Barry Jenkins on drums. Only Jenkins was a holdover from the prior Animals incarnation. Soon the band was just called Eric Burdon And The Animals, to distinguish them from their predecessor.
We have written in great detail about the adventures of the later, psychedelic Animals, so I will not recap them all here. Suffice to say, they found a sweet spot. They had fame and acclaim thanks to the Animals run of hits, but they were a terrific live band just when the fans started to expect that. The twin guitars extended their live songs just when that was expected of groups. Eric Burdon and The Animals was the first touring band with pop hits who were at home in a Fillmore environment. By the end of 1967, they would move to Los Angeles.
In early 1967, however, Eric Burdon And The Animals were doing their first American tour as a new band. They played colleges, typical "teen" gigs and some hip places. They had just recorded their new single "When I Was Young, " which would be a huge hit when it was released in April. In the meantime, MGM Records released the album Eric Is Here, which was a mix of singles and odd tracks that had not appeared on Animals albums. The "old" Animals had played Sacramento and Santa Rosa in August of 1966, and San Jose in July of 1966, but had not played San Francisco since 1965. There was plenty of interest in the Animals, so Bill Quarry took a chance on the newest, biggest arena in the region.
The Oakland Coliseum Arena had opened for business in December 1966. The first attraction was a multi-week stand by The Ice Follies, a touring ice skating extravaganza. There was already a sports tenant, too, as the San Francisco Seals had moved over from the Cow Palace to become the California Seals, playing their home games at the Arena in the 1967 part of the season. The Seals were still in the Western Hockey League in the 1966/67 season, but they would become an NHL expansion team the next year (long-time residents will recall that Charlie Finley bought the team and re-named them the California Golden Seals, but the franchise became the Cleveland Barons after 1976). There was also a multi-day track meet and a boxing match, so the Arena was steadily booked with sports.
The first musical event that I can find at the Oakland Coliseum Arena seems to be "An Evening With Henry Mancini." Mancini, a famous composer of film scores such as "The Pink Panther," would conduct the Oakland Symphony Orchestra on Wednesday, January 4. On February 11, there was a musical program featuring New Orleans jazz trumpeter Al Hirt. Although Al Hirt is not a popular name today, he appeared regularly on Television during the early '60s. I do not think that promoters of Mancini or Hirt expected either show to sell anywhere near the 15,000 to 18,000 seats that must have been available. Rather, they were scheduled with the idea that as many tickets could be sold as possible.
The first rock concert at the Coliseum Arena was headlined by Paul Revere & The Raiders. The Raiders are largely forgotten now, but they were absolutely huge from 1965-67. Originally founded in Boise, ID, in 1958, by the early '60s they had adopted their name ostensibly because they were "fighting the British Invasion." They wore stylized British Army uniforms on stage. They were a good band, though. They emulated bands like the Animals and the Stones while adding an authentic American R&B feel. The group got massive promotion from Columbia Records, and they regularly appeared on network TV shows like ABC's Where The Action Is. Even if you've forgotten Paul Revere and The Raiders, you might likely recognize songs like "Kicks" or "Hungry" if you heard them, if only from retro soundtracks and TV commercials.
Paul Revere & The Raiders were a huge concert attraction, because they had good songs and they could really play. Of course, they wore corny costumes and did dance steps when they played--a lot harder to do than it sounds--which ultimately worked against them in the Fillmore era. The other groups on the bill were actually pretty good, too. The Turtles are treated like a kind of joke now, since lead singers Mark Volman and Howard Kaylan (aka Flo & Eddie) make fun of everything, but actually they were an excellent folk-rock band. Roger Collins was a pretty good Oakland soul singer and the Mojo Men were a Bay Area band with a pretty good cover of Buffalo Springfield's "Sit Down I Think I Love You." Harper's Bizarre, while a corny vocal group who scored a hit with a cover of Paul Simon's "59th Street Bridge Song" ("Feelin' Groovy") on Warner Brothers were certainly the most successful band ever to come from Santa Cruz.
Rock concerts were just personal appearances, however, unless they were at the Fillmore. I don't know who promoted the Paul Revere show at the Coliseum Arena, nor do I know what happened. After the event, there wasn't a review or a comment or anything about it in the local dailies or the college papers. The event was simply a large-scale version of a sitcom teen heartthrob appearing at the local shopping center, disappearing without a trace.
There were six acts booked at the Coliseum. At the Fillmore or Avalon, they typically booked just three acts, and everyone did two sets. On this very evening, Bill Graham had booked Moby Grape and The Chambers Brothers at Winterland, instead of at the Fillmore, along with The Charlatans. If you stayed for all six sets, you'd get to see the great Moby Grape get relatively deep into their songs, or you could just catch a set by each band and leave. Rightly or wrongly, the Coliseum booking was designed to make you sit through every act.
At this great remove, the most fascinating detail is that Sly And The Family Stone were sixth on the bill. In fact, as Phil Elwood noted in his Examiner review (below), they did not appear. Whether this was due to a change in plans or anything else is lost to history. It is a plus for Bill Quarry that he had them on the bill at all, even if they did not play. At this time, Sly and The Family Stone were an underground sensation in the Peninsula. Starting in December 1966, they had been playing weekend "Breakfast Shows" from 2-6am at a place called Winchester Cathedral, at 3033 El Camino Real in Redwood City (at Selby Lane, near 5th Avenue). All the local musicians would come over after their gigs were over. Officially, no liquor was sold, although I'll bet plenty was consumed. All the hip players were totally knocked out by Sly's groundbreaking intersection of rock and soul. Quarry must have heard about it, but apparently something fell through and Sly did not play.
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| SF Examiner March 27, 1967 |
Jazz and Pop critic Phil Elwood of the San Francisco Examiner reviewed the Coliseum concert on Monday (March 27, above). In his own polite way, Elwood was absolutely scathing. The first part of the review praises the Motown revue at the Oakland Auditorium on Friday (March 24), highlighted by The Temptations and Martha and The Vandellas. That sets the table, however, for Elwood's grim takedown of the Coliseum show:
In the new Coliseum glass cage Arena, almost everything went wrong: too many acts, poor pacing, wretched sound and inept staging. Dullsville.
But Saturday, with only 4,000 of the 18,000 seats filled in the new Arema the Animals shows started erratically and collapsed before the stars appeared at 11 p.m., even though one announced act was completely scratched.
NEAT FIRST
Bola Sete's Brazilian jazz-bossa-nova trio played a neat first set, but the teen-age Top 30 crowd, although remarkably respectful, could get little intimacy with Bola's guitar projected from a ceiling-high honeycomb speakers and a couple of stage speaker sets.
It was an unstated assumption by the promoter that fans of Eric Burdon and The Animals would enjoy the understated elegance of Bola Sete's jazz guitar trio. Now, Eric Burdon and his band probably enjoyed it, but as Elwood makes clear, it was a complete misfire for the audience. Any of those who might have been persuaded by Bola Sete in a small setting could hardly have been impressed with hearing him in a huge basketball arena. Elwood continued:
The Association followed Sete and as always has been my experience with them, performed a good solid half hour. No one would call them hard rock or avant garden, but they put on a neat show, sing well, pace their set and are entertaining.
The Association, while largely forgotten today, were huge at this time. They had headlined at UC Berkeley's 8500-seat Greek Theatre back in October of 1966, leaning on their #2 single "Along Comes Mary" and their #1 smash "Cherish." While their most iconic hit, "Windy" would not be released until May of 1967, they were a huge pop group. Unlike some hit bands, they could play and sing really well live. They did wear matching outfits, and did some steps while they performed. The Association would be among the headliners at the Monterey Pop Festival in June of '67, but they would be forgotten next to Janis, Otis and Jimi. Elwood:
At this point in the evening, when a short bit by another group plus an intermission would have set up a climactic hour with the Animals, the producers dragged out first the Baytovens and then the Harbinger Complex. Neither bunch can really hold up 30 minutes in concert, and the crowd gradually realized that when the Association left, so did their stage sound equipment, which Bola Sete had shared.
So for almost the last two hours, all instrumental sounds blared from the amplified instruments on stage, and the voices squeaked down from the overhead speakers in the rafters. Cacophony defined.
Bill Quarry was an experienced promoter, but he seems to have made a beginner's mistake here. The amps for the local garage bands might have been okay at a smaller place, but for the cavernous Coliseum? The "overhead speakers" Elwood refers to would have just been the Public Address system for announcing hockey substitutions, not exactly designed for hi-fidelity.
DISTRACTION
The Baytovens plodded along imitatively, with a good version of "Waiting For You" thrown in, and the Harbinger Complex (coincidentally managed by the show's producer) turned everybody off. Kids chased each other around the empty seats, and dozens of girls combed their hair, smoked, chewed gum, sent their dates out for Cokes and compared wallets.
The Baytovens covered a Kinks song. Now, it's a good song, but a fourth-on-the-bill band covering a two-year-old hit doesn't make for a memorable date night. Both the Baytovens and Harbinger Complex were sort of Stones-wannabes, typical of garage bands throughout America, but hardly memorable. And much less so with only their own Fender amps in a basketball arena. Elwood's remark about Quarry managing the Harbinger Complex is a sign of his distaste. Most promoters booked their own bands--Bill Graham effectively managed Jefferson Airplane, and he booked them all the time--but mentioning it was a reminder that they weren't chosen for merit.
For the fifth time during the night, a pair of Lum 'n' Abner type m.c.'s (apparently dis) wasted time on mike and asked "Are you ready for the Animals?..." and embarrassing scattered applause and a couple of iffy screams resulted. More imploring, louder cheers, and on came Eric Burton, who looked as if he'd like to brain a few people with the mike stand.
"Lum 'n Abner" were a hick 40s radio comedy duo, a joke likely lost on any Examiner readers under 40. Still, while 4000 fans is a good crowd, it doesn't seem that way when capacity was over 15,000.
By this time, Burdon had to half kill himself to work up the crowd, and he did a brilliant job. His new Animals aren't as ferocious as their predecessor, but they're good: especially using a violin behind his vocal on "When I Was Young."
Burdon is a great blues shouter, obviously a big fan of the of the giants, from Ma Rainey to Joe Williams: "See See Rider" to "Every Day" (both of which he did Saturday). He struts, shouts; he'd break up the Fillmore or Avalon.
Elwood's comment that Eric Burdon would break up the Fillmore or Avalon was telling. The very next night (March 26), the Grateful Dead and Quicksilver Messenger Service were booked at the Avalon. The Animals came over and brought their guitars, and the Dead gave up the stage to them for a few songs. Animals guitarist Vic Briggs recalled the Avalon drop-in pretty clearly 40-some years later, but he had forgotten the Coliseum gig that preceded it. Probably better that he did
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| After the Animals, the next memorable rock concert at the Oakland Coliseum Arena was not until Friday, September 13, 1968. The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Vanilla Fudge, The Soft machine and Eire Apparent were presented by A/C Productions. |
Aftermath
The Oakland Coliseum Arena was heavily booked for the next 27 years, until it was largely rebuilt as the Oracle Arena. The California Golden Seals had left in 1976, but the Golden State Warriors had arrived in 1971. While just about the entire Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame would play the Oakland Coliseum Arena in the next few decades, it took a while to get started.
After Bill Quarry's debacle of a concert with Eric Burdon, there wasn't a Fillmore-style rock concert at Oakland Coliseum Arena until the next year. The Righteous Brothers played on October 21, 1967, and The Young Rascals headlined a KYA Radio sponsored concert on April 9, 1968. The electric door finally opened when the Jimi Hendrix Experience headlined the Arena on September 13, 1968. Eric Clapton and Cream then played the Oakland Coliseum Arena on October 4, 1968, during their Farewell Tour. No band was more of a live sensation than Cream, and--decades ahead of their time--they were also the first rock band to cash in on a Farewell tour.
In 1969, Creedence Clearwater Revival played on April 11, 1969, and then the Jimi Hendrix Experience would play the Coliseum Arena again (April 27), as did the monstrously popular Blood, Sweat & Tears (August 2), Blind Faith (August 16) and finally the Rolling Stones (November 9). By that time, there were advanced sound systems that made the audio a little more plausible. The sound probably wasn't anywhere near today's quality, but at least it wasn't being pumped through the sports arena system.
Bill Quarry was ultimately pushed aside by Bill Graham, as was every other rock promoter in the Bay Area. Eric Burdon and The Animals hit it big at Monterey Pop, and toured and recorded successfully for the next few years. Burdon had yet another big success when he discovered and introduced the band War. The Spring '67 concert at the Oakland Coliseum Arena was consigned to the room of bad memories, where it belonged.
For the next episode in the '67 Berkeley series (Berkeley and East Bay Concerts, January-March1967), see here. [forthcoming]
For the previous episode in the '67 Berkeley series (New Orleans House Performers List, January-March 1967)
For the Berkeley, Oakland and East Bay Rock History Navigation Tracker, see here
Chicken On A Unicycle
The Oakland Coliseum Complex is off of I-880 (formerly CA-17) but not at the nexus of any other freeway. The closest one, I-980, was six miles away but hadn't been built at the time the arena and stadium were constructed.
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