July 12, 1967 Oakland Auditorium, 10 10th Street, Oakland, CA: Grass Roots/Moby Grape "Crepuscular Happening" ('67 Berkeley VIII)

An ad for two promotional concerts booked at the Oakland Coliseum Arena for July 12 and 13, 1967, featuring the Grass Roots and The Doors. Both shows were moved to the smaller Oakland Auditorium.

1967 was the Summer Of Love in San Francisco. Whether you approved or disapproved, then or now, it was a central event in the ontogeny of rock music. The Fillmore and The Avalon stamped out the blueprint for live rock concerts in 1966, and it went worldwide in '67. Bands played for free in the park, bands proposed revolution and advocated mind expansion. And it wasn't just Jefferson Airplane, the Grateful Dead or Country Joe & The Fish--Paul McCartney and George Harrison both visited San Francisco, the Beatles released Sgt. Pepper's, the Stones released Their Satanic Majesties Request and Eric Burdon even recalled a warm San Francisco night. The Summer of '67 in San Francisco can rightly be called a golden time.

Yet the world did not change overnight in 1967. There were still teenagers in the suburbs, even in the Bay Area, and the powerful forces of commerce and entertainment that had been ascendant in popular music for at least a decade remained dominant. The Fillmore and the Avalon were still just an underground scene, even if one that was expanding. Meanwhile, above ground, the powers-that-be thought everything was business as usual.

Two rock concerts were booked for the new Oakland Coliseum Arena on July 12 and 13, 1967 at the height of the Summer Of Love. The first night featured the Grassroots, initially supported by super-cool Moby Grape. The second night was headlined by The Doors, riding high on their debut album and their epic #1 single "Light My Fire." These concerts were big deals, the kind of shows that should have been fondly recalled by everyone who attended as the coming of age of hot rock bands in their prime, at a time when legends walked among us all.

The concerts seemed to have bombed. There is almost no trace of the event, save some notices that the concerts were moved at the last minute to the much smaller Oakland Auditorium. This post will look at these two concerts, and determine why two shows that would have killed it at the Fillmore were still such  massive stiffs.

RCA Records released Surrealistic Pillow by Jefferson Airplane in February 1967

State Of Play, Summer of '67
According to everyone who was there, 1966 was the real Summer Of Love. Cool bands playing at the Fillmore or Avalon, or free in the park, people hanging out,  all while straight people didn't even know what LSD was. The Haight-Ashbury was the most famous, but there were cool underground scenes on the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood, in Greenwich Village, in Cambridge, MA, in Vancouver and some other places. The record companies caught on, and the scenes started to merge in 1967. Sunset Strip and Greenwich Village bands played San Francisco, and vice versa. Record companies were everywhere, signing up every handsome hippie with a guitar and a band. Some good records were made, too, in between some forgettable ones.

High school kids out in the suburbs were catching on to the fact that something was happening out there. In the Bay Area, a lot of parents who would let their teenagers borrow the family station wagon still didn't want them to go to big, bad San Francisco at night. But kids were starting to hear some stuff, even on Top 40 radio; what pill was the one that makes you larger, and what was the one that makes you small? When you looked at albums, even in the Rexall Drug Store, some of those covers had bands that didn't at all look like "entertainers," but like colorful free spirits, or maybe just weirdos. 

The Doors had hit it big with "Break On Through" and then "Light My Fire." Jefferson Airplane, with their mysteriously titled album, had scored with "Somebody To Love" and "White Rabbit." Something was happening, even if they didn't know what it was. Madison Avenue smelled it, too, and figured out that whatever the hippies were up to, maybe it was a good way to sell stuff to teenagers and young adults. Rock concerts were popular, so why not use popular rock bands to sell stuff to teenagers? Makes sense. Sure. Let's do it.

 

Berkeley Gazette Article, July 7 '67, clearly sourced from a press release

Tuna Canner Promotes Program (Berkeley Gazette July 7 '67)
A "Crepuscular Happening" is scheduled July 12 and 13 at the Oakland Coliseum headlining "The doors" and "The Grass Roots" in a promotion that is unique in two respects: price and sponsor.

White Star Tuna is behind the promotion in an attempt to acquaint the teen-age set with their label and house, the price, $1.50 and three White Star Tuna labels.

A spokesman for the Van Camp Sea Food company pointed that the only thing they were really interested in was giving the teen-agers an exciting evening--one that would be remembered later when , as young marrieds, they'd buy tuna at the grocers.

Other groups joining the "Crepuscular Happening" include "E Types" "Harbinger Complex" and "Strawberry Window" on the July 12 program and "Chocolate Watchband," "Peter Wheat" and "Mark and Stanley and The Fendermen" on July 13.

Tickets for the top entertainment bargain of the summer on sale at Bay Tickets, Kaiser Center Mall; Downtown Center Boxoffice, San Francisco.

The Oakland Coliseum Complex had been completed in 1966. The stadium had been planned as the home for the AFL Oakland Raiders, who had debuted there in September 1966. The Oakland Athletics, relocated from Kansas City, would debut on April 17, 1968. Across the parking lot, the glassy cage of the Oakland Coliseum Arena, seating 15,000 or more, had opened in December 1966 with the traveling Ice Follies show. Initially it had mostly featured sporting events--ice hockey (the Oakland Seals), boxing, track and so on--and a few musical events. Henry Mancini had conducted the Oakland Symphony (January 4, 1967), then trumpeter Al Hirt played (February 11), and then the first rock concert with Paul Revere and The Raiders (February 18, 1967). East Bay promoter Bill Quarry had produced a multi-act show headlined by Eric Burdon And The Animals on March 25, but it had been a complete debacle. Per the Examiner review, only 4000 had showed up. The sound was terrible and the crowd was bored. 

By 1967, Madison Avenue had caught on to the fact that teenagers liked the hip new rock groups. The Doors had migrated from being an underground Sunset Strip band to popular teen idols, with Jim Morrison's photo prominent in 16 Magazine. From an advertising point of view, it made sense to try and link popular rock groups with products for sale. What today we would call "Performance Art" was then called "A Happening." A "Crepuscalar" creature is one that prefers twilight to the night (Nocturnal) or day (Diurnal). A Crepuscular Happening sounds cool, if you're a middle-aged ad man who doesn't understand his own kids. 

I don't think that many teenagers read the Berkeley Gazette, so it wasn't that they would have been directly affected by the language of the sponsors. Nonetheless it is still surprising to read out loud. They want teenagers to have to get White Star Tuna labels so that they will remember the brand when they are young and married. Now, sure, maybe some young Doors fan was hoping to get lucky after the show, and would impregnate his girlfriend, get married, get a job at the Ford plant and then--after baby made three--recall White Star Tuna when they went to Safeway. But that's not what either boys or girls were dreaming of when they thought about rock and roll.

Sixties rock music was the beginning of popular music as a form of identity and self-expression. Prior to Bob Dylan and the Beatles, rock music was for dancing and driving. By 1967, it was about who you were and how you felt. Even if you thought, or think, that the self-expression was just another Madison Avenue illusion, having your identity as a marker for Tuna brands at the grocery store doesn't have that rock and roll feel to it. No one puts a White Star Tuna sticker on their bedroom wall. When you promoted underground rock and roll bands, even "underground" ones on huge corporate labels with massive national distribution, the link to the marketplace had to be offstage. Oakland wasn't San Francisco, but it wasn't that far off. 

Let's Live For Today by The Grassroots. The album was released in 1967 on Dunhill Records.

July 12, 1967 Oakland Coliseum Arena, Oakland, CA: Grass Roots/Moby Grape/E-Types/Harbinger Complex/Strawberry Window (Wednesday)
July 13, 1967 Oakland Coliseum Arena, Oakland, CA: The Doors/Chocolate Watch Band/Peter Wheat & The Breadmen/Mark and Stanley and The Fendermen (Thursday)
While the headline acts at the two "White Star" concerts had some Fillmore credibility, the supporting acts were all part of the East Bay teen circuit. The fact that there were four or more acts for each show was a mark of a teenage show, rather than a Fillmore one. At the Fillmore or Avalon, there were typically three bands, each playing two sets. The headliner would play the third and sixth (final) set of the night. The entire show ran for several hours, with suburban teenagers often arriving and leaving early, and late night trippers arriving late and staying late. Teen shows were more like High School dances, with shorter sets.

The structure of the White Star shows mimics shows produced by Bill Quarry's TNT Productions. He had regularly produced shows on Friday nights at the 2000-capacity Rollarena in San Leandro, a roller skating rink. By mid-67, the Rollarena had been shoved aside as suburban teenagers preferred to see the cool bands at the Fillmore. The supporting acts at these two concerts regularly played TNT events, and often played a lot of covers of Rolling Stones' songs and the likes, popular tunes that were easy to dance to. 

The Grassroots had an only-in-the-60s saga. Two LA producers, PF Sloan and Steve Barri ("Eve Of Destruction," "Secret Agent Man"), had recorded a single with some promise. "Where Were You When I Needed You" had been credited to the Grass Roots, but no such band existed. When the single hit in late 1965, Sloan and Barri recruited a San Mateo band called The Bedouins, winners of the 1965 San Mateo County Teenage Fair Battle Of The Bands, to become The Grass Roots. The Bedouins then toured around as The Grass Roots. They split with Sloan & Barri, however, when the producers refused to let the band record any new tracks for their first album on Dunhill Records, preferring to record them in LA without them. The band members had quit by Fall '66.

Sloan & Barri recruited a new band from Los Angeles, called the 13th Floor (not the Texan 13th Floor Elevators, to be clear), and made them the "new" Grass Roots. Guitarist Creed Bratton (later well-known as an actor) and bassist Rob Grill fronted the new lineup. By Summer 1967, their hit "Let's Live For Today" was climbing the charts. The Grass Roots weren't at all underground, but they had a slim patina of Fillmore cred associated with them, since they had played there various times. 

Moby Grape's debut album on Columbia was released in May 1967

Moby Grape had been formed more or less out of thin air by ex-Jefferson Airplane manager Matthew Katz. They were five experienced rock and rollers who could all sing, play and write songs, and were good looking to boot. They had debuted at the Fillmore and Avalon in early '67, and they were the hot band in town. Columbia snapped them up, and staff producer David Rubinson recorded a killer debut album. Moby Grape seemed to be on the heels of Jefferson Airplane and others, a great, hip happening band coming out of San Francisco. 

Moby Grape could have been special, but Columbia got everything wrong. They released every track on the album on five simultaneous singles, and had huge, cheesy promotions. Columbia rented out the Avalon for a promotional party, with several hundred bottles of specially labeled "Moby Grape Wine." No one remembered to bring any corkscrews, however, which pretty much sums up the Moby Grape story. The next morning, three members of Moby Grape were arrested in the Marin headlands, accused of contributing to the delinquency of a 17-year old girl (to be fair, the members have never denied attempting to contribute to her delinquency).

Hip San Francisco didn't trust Columbia's hype. Moby Grape was great, actually, but fans were suspicious. In an underground scene, credibility comes from authenticity. Appearing at a concert sponsored by White Star Tuna was the kind of underground thing that the Grateful Dead or Quicksilver wouldn't have done. Country Joe & The Fish would have protested White Star Tuna. Moby Grape couldn't get anything right, for all their fine music and good intentions. 

The E-Types were from Salinas, and sounded like the Beatles. They were popular in San Jose and the South Bay. Harbinger Complex were from Fremont, and sounded like the Rolling Stones. They were managed by Bill Quarry, one of the markers of his handprints on the bill. Strawberry Window were from Oakland. They would change their name to Dandelion Wine in 1968, because it sounded more psychedelic.

The Doors headlined Thursday night. They had been the coolest band on West Hollywood's Sunset Strip in Summer '66, and had recorded their debut for Elektra in the Fall. When the album was released in January 1967, the Doors were already an established underground live attraction in Southern and Northern California. "Break On Through" was an AM hit, and in June "Light My Fire" was an even bigger hit. The Doors came to the attention of 16 Magazine, one of the few ways to expand beyond the West Coast underground. The Doors grappled with whether they were going to be cool or just popular, but at least they had been cool to start with. 

San Jose was full of teenagers, and had a thriving rock scene of its own. Chocolate Watch Band were one of the anchors of that scene, with some local hits and albums on the Tower label. They were a great live band, too. Due to some rivalries between the Watch Band's manager (Ron Roupe) and Bill Graham, they never got the opportunities they deserved at the Fillmore. Appearing at a White Star concert didn't actually help them on this front, although they were reputedly great live. 

Peter Wheat and The Breadmen were another popular teen band, performing Stones-style music dressed as bread delivery men. Mark and Stanley and The Fendermen were another East Bay cover band, popular in the Alameda County suburbs.

A poster for a James Brown concert at the "New Oakland Coliseum" on July 9, 1967. Due to falling ceiling tiles, the concert was moved outdoors to the ballpark.

Over the weekend of July 8-9, some notes appeared in the Chronicle and Tribune about how ceiling tiles had fallen into the Coliseum Arena. A weekend James Brown show booked for the indoor Coliseum (on Sunday July 9) was moved next door to the stadium. For the record, that means James Brown played the first Oakland Coliseum "Day On The Green."

 

Oakland Tribune July 12 '67

The papers also said that the "Band Battles" for Wednesday and Thursday were canceled. It turned out, however, that they were moved to the Oakland Auditorium Arena, about six miles Northwest, fairly near downtown Oakland.  There was a cursory note in the Oakland Tribune on the day of the first concert. It said

The location for the "Crepuscular Happening" concerts tonight and tomorrow night has been changed from the Oakland Coliseum to the Oakland Auditorium. 

The "Grass Roots and "Moby Grape" headline tonight's show. "The Doors" and "Mark and Stanley and The Fendermen" will be featured tomorrow night. 

Oakland Coliseum Arena had between 15,000-18,000 seats, depending on configuration. Oakland Auditorium Arena had only 5,400. The Oakland Auditorium Arena had been built in 1913, and was hardly the gleaming new attraction that was the Coliseum. True, Buffalo Bill's Wild West show had played there (in 1915), and Elvis Presley twice (in '56 and '57), but that just made it seem old. Also, the Auditorium (at 10 10th Street, near Lake Merritt) wasn't nearly as centrally located as the Coliseum. While the problem with the ceiling tiles would have required a move, the shows would only have been moved if ticket sales were small enough to fit in the Auditorium. It would have been embarrassing to have a tiny crowd in the cavernous Coliseum, but of course the events passed without notice in the newspapers.

We are accustomed today to consider rock concerts, even bad or unprofitable ones, as cultural artifacts worthy of review and comment. But that really only started at the Fillmore, elevating the rock shows to the status of jazz or symphony concerts, worthy of consideration on their own terms. Out in the 1967 suburbs, rock concerts were still just public appearances by performers popular with teenagers, no different than the host of a game show appearing at a shopping mall. 

We have no eyewitnesses for either show, no recollections from any band member, no clue of how few people were really there. The crowd was probably slim and bored, the sound was probably sub-par, and such organization as there might have been probably wasn't that good, given the sudden venue change. White Star Tuna didn't promote another rock show in the Bay Area, to my knowledge. We have no idea how many high school sweethearts got married after seeing The Doors, so we can't judge the market effectiveness of the event. So it goes.

Aftermath
July 14, 1967 State Fair Grandstand, California State Fairgrounds, Sacramento, CA: The Doors/Parrish Hall Blues Band/Working Class/Public Nuisance (Friday) Crepuscular Happening
White Star Tuna did present another show headlined by The Doors, outdoors at the California State Fair in Sacramento. Some local Sacramento bands opened the show. The Working Class would evolve into the band Sanpaku, but not until 1968. Apparently it was a swelteringly hot day.

Oakland Tribune "Teen Age" section, November 8, 1967

Much as you might think that bands and corporations would have learned to keep to their separate corners, there seems to have been one more major effort to have a free concert sponsored by a big company. White Front department stores, a major chain, promoted huge shows at the 17,000 seat Hollywood Bowl and the 11,000+ seat Cow Palace in Daly City, with stellar lineups.  It was pitched as a "Festival Of Music."

November 18, 1967 Cow Palace, Daly City, CA (Saturday)
November 19, 1967 Hollywood Bowl, Los Angeles, CA (Sunday)
The Association/The Animals/Everly Brothers/Sopwith Camel/The Who/Sunshine Company
I wrote about what I could uncover about these concerts in a blog post some time ago. An article in the November 8, 1967 Oakland "Teen Age" section explained:

Tickets to the musical extravaganza are free with the purchase of any one M-G-M or Warner Brothers stereo album at any Bay Area White Front store, sponsor of the event.

White Front was a large department store, like Sears or Macy's, and there were quite a few around the Bay Area. Thus you could have gone into the store and purchased, say, Freak Out by The Mothers of Invention (on MGM), or the first Grateful Dead album (on Warners), and gotten a free ticket. Of course, in those days, the record sections of stores had considerably fewer albums, and you might find yourself having to buy a considerably less attractive album.

The shows were produced by Sam Riddle, a dj on the LA Top 40 station KHJ (Boss Radio 930). Riddle also produced numerous teenage-oriented TV shows in Southern California, such as Hollywood A Go Go on Channel 9 (KHJ-tv)in 1965. 

The internet being what is, the Comment Thread over the years, spread out over a decade, includes detailed memory from both the Hollywood Bowl and Cow Palace shows. Bands played short sets, the Who and The Animals were cool, and groups like The Association already hardly counted as rock music. The descriptions are probably as close as we will get to finding out what the White Star concerts in Oakland might have been like--pleasant, mechanical and antiseptic, in opposition to what all the young people liked about rock and roll when it was just getting started.

For the next post in the '67 Berkeley series (Berkeley and East Bay Concerts, July-September 1967), see here [forthcoming]

For the prior post in the '67 Berkeley series (New Orleans House Performers List, July-September 1967), see here

For the Berkeley, Oakland and East Bay Rock History Navigation Tracker, see here

Chicken On A Unicycle

 

 

 

 

 

 

1505 San Pablo Avenue, Berkeley, CA: New Orleans House Performers List July-September 1967 ('67 Berkeley VII)

In early 1966 the live rock concert market exploded in San Francisco, thanks to Bill Graham at the Fillmore Auditorium and Chet Helms at the nearby Avalon Ballroom. The city of Berkeley, and the University of California there, provided a significant number of the fans for the San Francisco ballrooms. It was no surprise that Berkeley rapidly had a live rock scene of its own. Throughout 1966 there had been various efforts to establish live rock venues in Berkeley, largely unsuccessful. In January of 1967, however, Berkeley had its first nightclub primarily devoted to live rock bands playing original music.

 

1505 San Pablo Avenue in Berkeley, the site of New Orleans House, as it appeared in August 2009. I am not aware of any photos of the exterior or stage of New Orleans House from when it was a nightclub in the 1960s and '70s.

The New Orleans House, in North Berkeley at 1505 San Pablo Avenue, between Jones and Hopkins Streets, only held about 200 patrons. But it served beer and wine, there was a dance floor and sometimes even a light show. So it was kind of like a miniature Avalon, if the Avalon had offered beer and dinner. There weren't yet that many rock bands in Berkeley, but there weren't really many places to play either. As part of my survey of 1967 rock music in Berkeley, I am looking at every performer at the New Orleans House during that year. My prior post reviewed New Orleans House performers from April to June 1967. This post will look at New Orleans House performers from July through September 1967. If anyone has additional information, corrections, photos, insights or recovered memories, please include them in the Comments. Flashbacks encouraged. 

Berkeley Barb ad for New Orleans House, June 30, 1967

June 30-July 1, 1967 New Orleans House, Berkeley, CA: Loading Zone (Friday-Saturday)
The Loading Zone had been Oakland's first export to the Fillmore scene. The band had formed out of the ashes of a Berkeley band called The Marbles. In 1966, The Marbles had fallen apart, and they had merged with the remnants of the jazzy Tom Paul Trio. Guitarists Steve Dowler and Pete Shapiro shared the front line with organist and singer Paul Fauerso. Loading Zone was the first of the  ballroom bands to merge psychedelic rock with R&B, with long feedback-drenched solos on top of a funky beat. Ballroom crowds loved it, and Loading Zone showed promoters and musicians that the sound would work. The Zone kicked open the door that was walked through by Sly And The Family Stone and then Tower Of Power. Their unheralded history is complex, but we have looked at it at great length.

The Loading Zone played numerous free concerts in Provo Park and Sproul Plaza, and then capitalized on it by playing gigs at Pauley Ballroom, New Orleans House and elsewhere. They were an excellent live band, and their psychedelic R&B was ahead of its time, so the strategy worked well. In any case, there wasn't really another method in Berkeley to build an audience, as they didn't have a record.  At New Orleans House or UC's Pauley Ballroom, Loading Zone got to make paying customers out of the fans they had made at free concerts. 

July 2-3, 1967 New Orleans House, Berkeley, CA: Second Coming (Sunday-Monday)
The Second Coming had been one of the first psychedelic rock bands in Berkeley, and in fact the first rock band to play New Orleans House, back in December 1966. Second Coming had returned to play a number of dates on through May and June of 1967. Vic Smith and David Lieberman were the guitarists, with Mike Friedman on keyboards. John Francis Gunning, formerly of Country Joe & The Fish, played drums and Marc Pessar played bass. Pessar had replaced original bassist Lonnie Turner, who had been recruited into the Steve Miller Blues Band. Second Coming played New Orleans House just about every Sunday and Monday night throughout the Summer.

New Orleans House was on San Pablo Avenue, near the Berkeley border and the Alameda County line. It was North of campus--"Northside" in local parlance--which was more sedate than the more raucous Southside, but also West of Campus, nearer to the Bay. Telegraph Avenue, the riots and the undergraduates were all Southside. The Gilman Street neighborhood where the club was located was accessible both to campus and to San Francisco via Transbay buses. It was more oriented towards assistant professors and graduate students, with no riots.

Music generally began at New Orleans House at 9:30, even on weeknights, which seems late. But in fact the club served dinner from 5:00-9:00pm, and happy hour was from 8:00-9:00, where beer was just 75 cents a pitcher. So the club was also a restaurant and hangout for the neighborhood, separate from being an entertainment venue.   Owner Kitty Griffin had run a restaurant on College Avenue (Kitty's) for a while, so she knew the Berkeley market. She also taught handicapped children during the day for the Contra Costa School district, and New Orleans House was her night gig.

July 4, 1967: New Orleans House, Berkeley, CA The High Mass (Tuesday)
For the Summer of '67, New Orleans House was mostly open six nights a week (usually closed Thursday). Tuesday and often Wednesday nights were often filled by local bands looking for an audience. High Mass is unknown to me.

Say Siegel Schwall, the band's second album, had been released on Vanguard in 1967

July 5, 1967: New Orleans House, Berkeley, CA Siegel-Schwall Band (Wednesday)
Siegel-Schwall were another of the "crossover" white blues bands coming out of Chicago on the heels of the Butterfield Blues Band.  Corky Siegel played harmonica, and Jim Schwall played guitar, and the group expanded the Chicago blues repertoire to include a lot more improvisation than other groups at the time.  They recorded for Vanguard. In 1967 they had released their second album, Say Siegel Schwall.

Siegel-Schwall was the first touring band from outside the Bay Area to play New Orleans House. The band was playing Tuesday (July 4) at the Avalon, and then Thursday through Sunday as well, opening for the Steve Miller Blues Band. On their off night, Siegel-Schwall was booked at New Orleans House. When the rock market matured within a year or two, bands regularly played weeknights at New Orleans House prior to opening at the Avalon or elsewhere, but this was the first time. Touring bands in the 60s were like sharks, as they had to keep moving to survive.

July 6, 1967: New Orleans House, Berkeley, CA Graham Leath Productions (Thursday)
A unique feature of Berkeley rock clubs in the 1960s was how regularly they booked theater and dance troupes. Now, it was common for rock clubs everywhere to book a little jazz, folk and blues on off nights. There weren't always enough rock bands to go around, particularly in the '60s, and rock fans usually had some residual interest in other music, so it made sense to have other genres on weeknights. But theater and dance was something different entirely. Yet New Orleans House, along with Mandrake's and The Steppenwolf (both nearby, several blocks South on San Pablo Avenue) regularly booked theater and dance. These troupes were usually "progressive," and sometimes political, not just performing old musicals, but it wasn't rock nor even music.

In 1967, New Orleans House regularly booked a troupe called the Graham Leath dancers. The Graham Leath company was a collaboration between John Graham and A.A. Leath. I won't try and go into a dance rabbit hole, but Leath was apparently a unique and independent creative force, just like the rock bands carving out their own musical futures. A.A. Leath had been part of Anna Halprin's dance school, who had her own deep ties to the Haight-Ashbury arts community.  His dance company partnership with John Graham seems to have been formally presented here as Graham Leath Productions. New Orleans House had booked the dance company regularly on Thursday nights throughout the Spring, but the club appeared to be dark on Thursdays after the next week.
 

Berkeley Barb ad for New Orleans House, July 7, 1967

July 7-8, 1967: New Orleans House, Berkeley, CA Anonymous Artists of America (Friday-Saturday)
The Anonymous Artists of America were a group linked to the Merry Pranksters and based in a commune in the La Honda Mountains. The AAA got together at Stanford (where most of them were students or employees), and their name was as an expression of the belief that every person is an artist. The band debuted publicly in the early hours of July 24, 1966, at a private party at the Fillmore that was a reception for reporter Lee Quarnstom's wedding, held after the Saturday night Quicksilver concert. The most notable member of AAA was Sara Ruppenthal Garcia, who was Jerry Garcia's wife. She had abandoned the Merry Pranksters, and Jerry, in mid-1966.

Sara Ruppenthal Garcia recalled, in a private email,( correcting an earlier entry in our New Orleans House chronicle): 

"The AAA got together at Stanford (where most of us were students or employees), as an expression of our belief that every person is an artist. The makeup of the group was basically Lars Kampmann, a drama major; Norman Linke, who was in graduate school as an economist studying Chinese; Michael Katz, a PhD candidate in Psychology; Sara Ruppenthal Garcia, (Communications/film undergrad) separated from her husband Jerry and returned from helping put on the L.A. Acid Tests with the Pranksters; Manny Meyer, Trixie Merkin, Len and Toni Frazer, Annie Balaam (an art student), and Adrienne Berkun (a chemist). Some other folks came and went, but during my two+ eventful years with the group... Alas, we did not have a Boise Thunder Machine, but an idiosyncratic early Don Buchla electronic music generator, provided by our honorary uncle Richard Alpert (later Ram Dass). 

Our music and presentation were psychedelic in the extreme. We lived first at Rancho Diablo, a hideaway off Skylilne Blvd. in La Honda built by one of the railroad barons. Later we moved to Potrero Hill in SF. For a while we had a killer young drummer from Texas known as Little Richard, whose last name I cannot recall. Michael Katz and I left in 1968 and the AAA moved to Colorado, where they played for several years."

The AAA were captured on film and video, and some snippets can be seen here.

July 7-8, 1967 The Jabberwock, Berkeley, CA: Doc Wastson (Friday-Saturday)
The Jabberwock, at 2901 Telegraph Avenue (at Russell, across from the Co-Op Market), had been Berkeley's leading folk club from 1965-67. From 1966 onwards, it had also regularly hosted rock bands, most famously Country Joe & The Fish. Members of the band had lived next door to the Jabberwock, and had played there regularly in numerous incarnations. The tiny 'Wock, capacity about 100, had simply become too small for a popular music venue. In any case, it was officially closed due to its inability to meet the public safety code, but it was already economically unviable. 

The Jabberwock was over on the South side of campus, so it probably didn't affect attendance at New Orleans House, since it was Northside. But it affected the musicians, since rock bands now had only half as many places to get booked. The Steppenwolf coffee shop, not far away at 2136 San Pablo Avenue, booked rock bands occasionally but not that often.

July 9, 1967: New Orleans House, Berkeley, CA John Fahey/Red Crayola (Sunday) afternoon
John Fahey was an acoustic guitar pioneer, founder of both Takoma Records and a whole style of music.  Fahey had been a regular performer on the Berkeley folk scene for several years by this time, and was a significant influence on County Joe McDonald’s compositions.

The Red Crayola were from Texas, at a time when Freaks in Texas took their life into their hands merely by growing long hair. Red Crayola recorded for International Artists, who also produced the 13th Floor Elevaotrs. Fahey and the Crayola met at the 1967 Berkeley Folk Festival, which had ended July 4. At the Festival, Red Krayola had invited Fahey to join them on electric guitar (a rare and remarkable happening in itself), and they had played their infamous "ice block" piece. Apparently, a block of ice was suspended over a microphone, and the dripping ice provided the rhythm for increasingly frenzied jamming. According to legend, within 10 minutes, the Crayola were paid $10 if they would stop  (I do not know if they stopped). Fahey apparently then invited them to play with him at New Orleans House. It's unknown what actually occurred, or if ice blocks were involved. The Red Crayola would later change the spelling to Red "Krayola," and remained legend.

The Fahey show initiated a series of Sunday afternoon events that endured for much of the history of New Orleans House. The club would have a folk or jazz show starting in late afternoon, and then a rock band starting after 10:00pm. This schedule allowed New Orleans House to build an audience for folk, and later jazz, that was separate from rock. North Berkeley did not have a jazz venue at all, so in a tiny way New Orleans House had a small, but captive market. 

Also on July 9, across campus, The Jabberwock held a private wake for itself. In a telling detail, what had been Berkeley's premier folk club had rock bands at its last event. That pretty much summed up the history of West Coast folk music. Symbolically and actually the club’s closing represents a shift from folk to rock as the music of choice for ‘serious’ college students (and serious dropouts, of course).  

July 9-10, 1967: New Orleans House, Berkeley, CA The Second Coming (Sunday-Monday)
Second Coming played a late set Sunday, after Fahey, and then played again on Monday night.

"Hastings Street Opera" was recorded in the back of Joe's Records on Hastings Street in Detroit, ca. 1948. Shop owner Joe Van Battle recorded a "street poet" called The Detroit Count, with blues piano accompaniment

July 11-12, 1967: New Orleans House, Berkeley, CA The Hastings Street Opera (Tuesday-Wednesday)
Hastings Street Opera is unknown to me. The band name can be seen on a few Berkeley listings in the Barb during July '67. Hastings Street was at the center of the Detroit African-American business district. "Hastings Street Opera" was a famous record from the late 1940s. that was sort of a spoken word description of the scene, accompanied by blues piano. There were many bands from out of town in Berkeley and San Francisco during this summer, so possibly Hastings Street Opera was from elsewhere.

July 13, 1967: New Orleans House, Berkeley, CA Graham Leath Productions (Thursday)
This is the last New Orleans House date advertised for Graham Leath Productions, or anything at all, on a Thursday night in the Summer of '67.

 

July 14, 1967 New Orleans House, Berkeley, CA: Congress of Wonders/Second Coming (Friday)
July 15-17, 1967 New Orleans House, Berkeley, CA: The Second Coming (Saturday-Tuesday)
Bands were pouring into the Bay Area throughout 1967, eager to get heard in the Summer Of Love. New Orleans House was the only Berkeley club that regularly booked original rock music, and there was only one similar venue. But San Francisco's Matrix, while hip, was even smaller than New Orleans House. So from the outside it seems odd that New Orleans House just booked the same bands over and over, and so few that were new to the area.

After the success of the Fillmore and Avalon, however, venues and promoters had sprung up all over. There were competing venues in San Francisco (the Western Front at 895 O'Farrell), new venues in places as far flung as Fremont and Lake Tahoe, and numerous concerts at rented venues like California Hall in the City. All of these concerts had three or four bands, so there were gigs to be had, even for new bands. Now, many of these gigs weren't successful, or the bands didn't get paid, but they were playing around. It would take a while for agents and bookers to recognize New Orleans House as a solid booking where a band could build an audience. 

Congress Of Wonders' debut 1970 album Revolting, on Fantasy Records

Second Coming played both the weekend gigs and their regular Sunday and Monday slots. They were probably pretty good live, but New Orleans House didn't seem to have many other options in early Summer. Friday headliners Congress Of Wonders were a comedy trio from Berkeley, initially from the UC Berkeley drama department and later part of Berkeley’s Open Theater on College Avenue, a prime spot for what were called “Happenings” (today ‘Performance Art’).  The group performed at the Avalon and other rock venues.

Ultimately a duo, Karl Truckload (Howard Kerr) and Winslow Thrill (Richard Rollins) created two Congress of Wonders albums on Fantasy, Revolting (1970) and Sophomoric ('72). Their pieces “Pigeon Park” and “Star Trip”, although charmingly dated now, were staples of San Francisco underground radio at the time. Earl Pillow (Wesley Hind) was the original third member.

July 16, 1967 New Orleans House, Berkeley, CA: Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach (Sunday) 6:00pm
Similar to the Fahey show the previous Sunday, the Rabbi was listed from 6-10pm, and Second Coming played afterwards (an interesting evening for the religious minded). Berkeley musician Brian Voorheis recalled Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach:

“Rabbi Shlomo - YEAH! Unforgettable guy - he was a Hassidic rabbi who was all over the place leading his own kind of life-celebration thing which included dancing the Horah, etc. Can't recall if he had a Klezmer-type group with him or not - I think not, maybe he just played guitar. He did his thing up on UC campus a lot, in Sproul Plaza. Really got folks revved up, ‘cause he was revved up!”

July 18-19, 1967 New Orleans House, Berkeley, CA: The New Salvation Army Banned (Tuesday-Wednesday)
The New Salvation Army Banned was formed in the Haight Ashbury in 1967, with Joe Tate on guitar and Artie Resnick on keyboards.   They would go on to release two albums for ABC Records in 1968, although by that time they had changed their name to Salvation because of the record company’s fear of being sued by the actual Salvation Army.

It appears that New Orleans House was dark on Thursday nights for the balance of the Summer.

Berkeley Barb ad for New Orleans House, July 21, 1967

July 21-22, 1967: New Orleans House, Berkeley, CA Yajahla (Friday-Saturday)
Yajahla was a group formed by former members of The Chocolate Watch Band, mainly lead guitarist Mark Loomis.  The Watch Band, while an excellent group and possibly the best group to come out of the South Bay in the 60s, had an extraordinarily tortured history, with members coming and going and recordings released without the band’s approval. For reasons too byzantine to explain, even for this blog, Yajahla is sometimes referred to as Yajahla Tingle Guild, but that is a mistake (there was an entirely different group called The Tingle Guild--don't get me started).

July 23-24, 1967: New Orleans House, Berkeley, CA The Second Coming (Sunday-Monday)

July 25-26, 1967: New Orleans House, Berkeley, CA Strawberry Window (Tuesday-Wednesday)
The Strawberry Window were a four piece Oakland-based band with Jack Eskrich and Marc Rich on guitars, Steve Wilson on bass and Andy Kennedy on drums. Two tracks recorded at Golden State Recorders were released on the Big Beat CD What A Way To Come Down. The band later changed their name to Dandelion Wine.

Berkeley Barb ad for New Orleans House, July 28, 1967

July 28-29, 1967: New Orleans House, Berkeley, CA Mother Earth (Friday-Saturday)
There were various micro-communities within the Bay Area music scene that were formed by expatriates from other tiny, hip scenes in other parts of the country.  One such micro-collective was the various Texas musicians who migrated to the Bay Area.  Chet Helms and Janis Joplin are the most memorable of the Texas-San Fran crowd, and the 13th Floor Elevators were based in the Bay Area for a time in late 1966, too, but there were many others.  Doug Sahm and The Sir Douglas Quintet escaped Sahm’s pot bust in mid-66 to become Bay Area transplants.  Supposedly, so many Texans lived in one San Francisco neighborhood (near Connecticut Street on Potrero Hill) that it was called “Little Texas.”

Mother Earth had been formed by Texas musicians, along with a singer from Madison, WI, all of whom lived in the Bay Area, and they are rightly located as part of the Texas expatriates in San Francisco.  Songwriter and sometime singer R.P. St. John had been in an early 60s group with Janis Joplin (The Waller Creek Boys), which accounts for Big Brother and The Holding Company recording one of his songs (“Bye Bye Baby”). He had gone on to a seminal Austin group called St. John And The Conqueroo.  One of the members of that band (Tommy Hall) then left to form the 13th Floor Elevators, which is how the Elevators ended up recording another of St. John’s songs.  When St. John left the group, they changed their name to The Conqueroo and continued on.  The other members of Mother Earth (guitarist Toad Andrews, bassist Bob Arthur and drummer George Rains) were also Texans.

The primary lead singer, Tracy Nelson, was from Madison.  While a teenager in college (at UW) she started singing in local bands, and ended up recording an album for Prestige in 1964 called Deep Are The Roots. She had tried various ways of making a living, but despite her distaste for having a high profile, music turned out to be the best way to earn.  As well as being a fine keyboard player, Nelson had a soulful country and blues voice that belied her college-girl Midwestern roots.  She had relocated to California in 1966 and ended up in the Bay Area by 1967 and helped form Mother Earth.

These shows were probably among Mother Earth’s earliest gigs in the Bay Area. The New Orleans House would later establish itself as a place where bands that were new to town could get a gig, which is very much in line with the Berkeley tendency to seek out the new and unknown.

 July 30-31, 1967: New Orleans House, Berkeley, CA The Second Coming (Sunday-Monday)

 August 1, 1967 New Orleans House, Berkeley, CA Mother Earth: (Tuesday)

 

A color flyer for the New Orleans House for the week of August 1, 1967

August 2, 1967 New Orleans House, Berkeley, CA: Steve Miller Blues Band/Mother Earth (Wednesday)
The Steve Miller Blues Band had played a few weekends at New Orleans House earlier in the year, but had now established themselves as regulars at the Fillmore and Avalon. Yet Miller gigged every night he could, so they still played weeknights at New Orleans House. Steve Miller was from Madison, WI, via Chicago and Texas, but at this time he lived off College Avenue in Berkeley. They played the blues, very well, but in a free-flowing, jazzy way.

When he had arrived in October '66, Miller had imported some musicians from Wisconsin--Tim Davis on drums and vocals and guitarist Curley Cooke. Since then, he had drafted Berkeley bassist Lonnie Turner, formerly of Second Coming, who had joined in February, and organist Jim Peterman, who had come out in June of '67. Cooke had gotten very ill, however, and had to return home to Wisconsin. Miller imported another old friend, William "Boz" Scaggs, a former bandmate from Texas. Scaggs had played in a band with Miller when they were both in prep school in Texas. In the meantime, Scaggs had become a folksinger in Sweden, and had even recorded an album there. Boz joined the Steve Miller Band in July of 1967. He would leave the group 18 months later, but Scaggs stayed in the Bay Area for the rest of his sterling career.

Berkeley Barb ad for New Orleans House, August 4., 1967

August 4, 1967: New Orleans House, Berkeley, CA Strawberry Window/Liquid Blues Band (Friday)
The Liquid Blues Band are unknown to me. 

August 5, 1967 New Orleans House, Berkeley, CA: The Loading Zone/Yajahla (Saturday)

August 6, 1967 New Orleans House, Berkeley, CA: Benefit for Delano Workers (Sunday) 3-7pm
Cesar Chavez and his striking grape workers in Delano, CA were an important political cause in Berkeley. This event was listed in the Barb, but I don't know who performed. 

August 6, 1967 New Orleans House, Berkeley, CA: Second Coming (Sunday)

August 7-8, 1967 New Orleans House, Berkeley, CA: Mother Earth/Second Coming (Monday-Tuesday)

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

Berkeley Barb ad for New Orleans House, August 11, 1967

August 11, 1967 New Orleans House, Berkeley, CA: Congress of Wonders/Strawberry Window (Friday)
August 12, 1967 New Orleans House, Berkeley, CA: Congress of Wonders/Yajahla (Saturday)

August 13, 1967 New Orleans House, Berkeley, CA: The Proposals (Sunday) 5:30-9:30pm
The Proposals were a local ‘modern’ jazz group.  These were Sunday afternoon shows (5:30-9:30). 

August 13-14, 1967 New Orleans House, Berkeley, CA: The Second Coming (Sunday-Monday)
New Orleans House kept up the pattern of a Sunday afternoon jazz show, followed by a nighttime set by Second Coming.

August 15-16, 1967: New Orleans House, Berkeley, CA South Side Sound System (Tuesday-Wednesday)
The South Side Sound System featured Charlie Musselwhite on harmonica and vocals and Harvey Mandel on lead guitar.  Both were white, and they led a racially mixed band from Chicago.  Musselwhite had been born in Mississippi and moved to Memphis and ultimately Chicago.  He was one of a small number of white musicians in Chicago (including Nick Gravenites, Paul Butterfield, Mike Bloomfield, Elvin Bishop and a few others) who stumbled onto the blues scene by themselves.

A club regular, Musselwhite eventually recorded an album for Vanguard in 1967 called Stand Back, which had started to receive airplay on San Francisco’s new underground FM station, KMPX-fm. Friendly with the Chicago crowd who had moved to San Francisco, his band was offered a month of work in San Francisco, so Musselwhite took a month’s leave from his day job and stayed for a couple of decades. Mandel, too, remained in the Bay Area throughout his career, joining first Canned Heat and then John Mayall, among many others. 

Musselwhite was a known quantity in Chicago, so he hit San Francisco with a bang in August. First he opened for a week at the Fillmore from August 8-13, supporting Mike Bloomfield's Electric Flag. Two weeks later, Southside Sound System were supporting Cream and Butterfield Blues Band (Aug 22-27). These were Cream's debut shows in San Francisco, and they changed Cream's career and indeed all of rock music. The Fillmore was crammed, so everyone had gotten to hear Musselwhite and Mandel. Taking two nights in between at New Orleans House was a chance for newly-minted fans to hear them. Many bands would follow this pattern, playing a gig at the Avalon or the Fillmore as a way to create interest in club dates at places like New Orleans House. 
 

Berkeley Barb ad for New Orleans House,  August 18, 1967

August 18, 1967 New Orleans House, Berkeley, CA: Indian Head Band (Friday)
The Indian Head Band were an improvisational ‘Raga Rock’ group featuring lead guitarist Hal Wagenet and a trained opera singer (Mickey Mader) as lead vocalist. The group broke up in 1968 when Wagenet would join It’s A Beautiful Day.

August 19, 1967 New Orleans House, Berkeley, CA: Yajahla (Saturday)

August 20, 1967 New Orleans House, Berkeley, CA: The Proposals (Sunday) 5:30-9:30pm

August 20, 1967 New Orleans House, Berkeley, CA: The Strawberry Window (Sunday) evening

August 21-22, 1967 New Orleans House, Berkeley, CA: Mother Earth (Monday-Tuesday)

A poster for the Flamin' Groovies at New Orleans House, August 23 &25, 1967

August 23 & 25, 1967 New Orleans House, Berkeley, CA: Flamin’ Groovies (Wednesday & Friday)
The Flamin’ Groovies were a few years younger than the first wave of Fillmore and Avalon musicians, but had still been connected to the scene from the beginning.  The Groovies had continued to play in the British Invasion style that preceded the acid-tinged jamming that characterized the Fillmore scene. The Groovies short rock songs and snotty attitude was not popular in San Francisco, and opinions remain divided about them.  The group intermittently broke up and reformed over the next few decades. When punk hit a decade letter the Groovies were seen as precursors, but despite popularity in England and elsewhere they remained (and remain) small beer in San Francisco and the Bay Area.

August 26, 1967 New Orleans House, Berkeley, CA: Yajahla/Congress of Wonders (Saturday)

August 27, 1967 New Orleans House, Berkeley, CA: The Proposals (Sunday) 5:30-9:30pm

August 28, 1967 New Orleans House, Berkeley, CA: The Second Coming (Monday) 

Sandy Bull's Fantasias For Guitar and Banjo (with drummer Billy Higgins) was released by Vanguard Records in 1963.

August 27, 29-30-31, 1967 New Orleans House, Berkeley, CA: Sandy Bull/Pyewacket (Sunday, Tuesday-Thursday)
Sandy Bull was a unique guitarist, years ahead of his time.  He had released two albums on Vanguard (Fantasias For Guitar and Banjo in 1963 and Inventions in 1965) that merged folk and blues with Indian, Brazilian and Middle Eastern sounds.  He overdubbed electric and acoustic guitars, banjo, bass and various other instruments, with only jazz drummer Billy Higgins as accompanist.  The material was all instrumental, and the longest track on Inventions took up an entire side of the album.

Had the term ‘World Music’ been invented, Bull would have been one of its first practitioners.  Not only was he well-versed in American music styles, he had spent time in Paris and London in the early 60s and met and played with musicians from Africa, the Middle East and elsewhere.  Bull had moved from England to California in the Spring of 1967 to play the San Francisco Folk Festival and soon became a regular at the Fillmore and The Matrix.  Unfortunately, Bull had many drug and personal problems, and never lived up to the spectacular promise that he initially showed.  Nonetheless, he managed to clean himself up by 1974, and continued to record and perform until he died in 2001.

Pyewacket were a Southern California group, but I don't have any other information.
 

Berkeley Barb ad for New Orleans House, September 1, 1967

September 1-2, 1967 New Orleans House, Berkeley, CA: The Second Coming/Clover (Friday-Saturday)
Clover were a Marin band that had formed out of the isolated Muir Beach scene in Western Marin.  Bassist John Ciambotti had been in a San Francisco group called The Outfit in 1966 and 67, but he left the group as it fell apart. He joined a group called Tiny Hearing Aid Company, and the group changed its name to Clover. Clover’s debut had only been on July 4, 1967, so they were still quite a new group. Clover lead guitarist John McFee went on to play with Elvis Costello and then join the Doobie Brothers, among many other groups.

By 1967, Marin County was becoming the new refuge for hippie musicians. The County was transitioning from being a primarily agricultural to an enclave of San Francisco commuters. As a result, in the '60s and '70s, rent was cheap, and there were plenty of old farmhouses and the like for rent. Clover shared a rehearsal space with another band, Flying Circus, which featured Bob McFee--John's brother--on lead guitar. Brother Bob had been in Tiny Hearing Aid, too, but as the bass player. A geographical oddity of Marin was that while it was cheap for musicians, there were almost no gigs there, as the population was tiny. Thanks to the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge, Berkeley was surprisingly close to Marin County when it wasn't rush hour, so all of the Marin bands played Berkeley regularly. 

September 3, 1967 New Orleans House, Berkeley, CA: The Second Coming (Sunday)
Second Coming broke up by October. Guitarist Vic Smith would go on to form Sky Blue, and later Grootna.

September 4-7, 1967: New Orleans House, Berkeley, CA South Side Sound System (Monday-Thursday)

Berkeley Barb ad for New Orleans House, September 8, 1967

September 8-9, 1967 New Orleans House, Berkeley, CA: Mother Earth/Prime Movers (Friday-Saturday)
The Prime Movers were a Michigan band, most notorious for their former drummer James "Iggy" Osterberg. Iggy had moved on to The Stooges by 1967, but The Prime Movers, who played driving blues, were friendly with Mike Bloomfield and summered in Sausalito, hoping to break into the California music scene. Despite Bloomfield’s good offices, this was one of the few gigs that the band played. The Prime Movers did substitute for the Electric Flag at the Fillmore one night when they were supposed to open for Cream (between August 28 and September 3). The Prime Movers would return to Michigan in the Fall of 1967. Lead singer Michael Erlewine went on to found the All Music Guide in the 1990s.

September 10, 1967 New Orleans House, Berkeley, CA: Mother Earth/Flamin' Groovies (Sunday)
The Flamin' Groovies created a flyer for their opening slot for Mother Earth, likely drawn by band members or friends.

September 11-12-13, 1967 New Orleans House, Berkeley, CA: South Side Sound System (Monday-Wednesday)

 

Berkeley Barb ad for New Orleans House, September 15, 1967

September 15-17, 1967 New Orleans House, Berkeley, CA: West Coast Natural Gas (Friday-Sunday)
West Coast Natural Gas were from Seattle.  They signed with the notorious Mathew Katz (whose litigation with the Airplane and Moby Grape lasted 20 and 39 years, respectively) and would move to San Francisco in 1968   For obscure reasons, Katz had them change their name to Indian Puddin and Pipe, even thought there was another band with that name (also managed by him).

September 18, 1967 New Orleans House, Berkeley, CA: "Guest Night" (Monday)
The Barb ad says “Every Monday Night, starting Sept. 18—Guest Night—performers welcome. Folk Music Poetry, Variety.  M.C. Larry Hanks, 8:30-11:30 pm.  Dancing to Rock Bands 11:30-1:30.” Larry Hanks had been one of the regular MCs for Hoot Night at the recently closed Jabberwock, on the other side of campus.  The wording of the ad carefully encourages any interested folkies while broadening the appeal beyond the Hootenany concept.

September 18, 1967 New Orleans House, Berkeley, CA: Martha's Laundry (Monday) 11:30pm-1:30am
Martha’s Laundry were a San Francisco group (named after a laundry they had passed by when forming in 1966). They did jazzy arrangements of blues tunes, but had little original material. Lead guitarist Jim Lehman and drummer Randy Smith had formed the group. Tom Peterain played rhythm guitar, Dave Kessner played keyboards and Michael Husser played bass. 

After Martha's Laundry ground to a halt in 1968, Smith, Lehman and Kessner would start a Berkeley music store called Prune Music (1345 Grove at Rose), which later moved to Mill Valley. Smith built a small, powerful amplifier (initially to play a prank on Barry Melton) and formed a company called MESA Engineering. After Carlos Santana said “man, that amp really boogies,” Smith named the product MESA Boogie. Jim Lehman now runs a guitar shop in Austin, while Dave Kessner remains a producer and writer in Marin, and owned Church Studios in San Anselmo in the 70s.

Randall Smith's improbable story deserves a full hearing, and is an only-in-the-60s tale. MESA--it stands for Mercedes Sales (you have to read the whole thing). 

September 19-20, 1967 New Orleans House, Berkeley, CA: Steve Miller Band (Tuesday-Wednesday)  When Boz Scaggs had joined the band, Steve Miller changed their name from the Steve Miller Blues Band to the Steve Miller Band.  Scaggs was a tremendous vocalist, and a pretty good guitarist as well, so the Miller Band was suddenly a very hot commodity to record companies. Unlike many other local musicians, Steve Miller had been an ambitious professional for some time and he did not leap at the first contracts offered to him.

Berkeley Barb ad for New Orleans House,  September 22,  1967

September 22-23-24, 1967 New Orleans House, Berkeley, CA: The Strawberry Window (Friday-Sunday)

September 25, 1967 New Orleans House, Berkeley, CA Guest Night/Martha’s Laundry (Monday)
The MC was Larry Hanks.

A 1966 photo of The Generation (from the SF Band ID book). Lead singer Lydia Pense would later lead Cold Blood for many years

September 26-27, 1967 New Orleans House, Berkeley, CA: The Generation (Tuesday-Wednesday)
The Generation was a San Francisco based R&B group with two vocalists and a three-piece horn section. Members included future Cold Blood stalwarts Lydia Pense (vocals), Larry Fields (guitar) and Rod Ellicott (bass). Pense had been a professional singer for some years on the Peninsula. The photo of the group in the 1966 SF Band ID Book shows a pretty straight-looking bunch, the sort of band who played teen dances and debutante balls. Other Generation members included co-vocalist (and bandleader) Don Herron, organist Craig Parker and drummer Dick Sidman.

Bill Champlin credited The Generation with being the first band in the Bay Area to play original rock with a horn section, before The Sons of Champlin.

 

Berkeley Barb ad for New Orleans House, September 29, 1967

September 29-30, October 1, 1967 New Orleans House, Berkeley, CA: Morning Glory (Friday-Sunday)
Morning Glory were a Mill Valley band with a sort of Jefferson Airplane sound. Since the Airplane were huge in 1967, those sort of groups got signed, and Morning Glory put out an album on Fontana in 1968.   The back cover was photographed on a cable car, just to ensure that no one missed the San Francisco connection.  The album isn’t bad, but its not that memorable.  Bassist Bob Bohanna wrote most of the songs, and shared the vocals with Gini Graybeal.

Status Report: New Orleans House, October 1967
New Orleans House had been the only rock club in Berkeley for the Summer of Love. By the Fall, the club was starting to benefit from the bands who had come to San Francisco. In particular, New Orleans House was regularly booking a lot of groups who had learned the blues in Chicago, like Steve Miller Band and Southside Sound System. Although without design, New Orleans House booked more bands with blues or country roots than folkie psychedelic ones, a precursor to the kind of "Americana" sounds of a lot of modern rock nightclubs. The departure of the Jabberwock and the lack of a East Bay jazz club also made New Orleans House a refuge for that kind of music as well. 

For the next post in the '67 Berkeley series (July 12, 1967 Oakland Auditorium: Moby Grape), see here

For the previous post in the '67 Berkeley series (Berkeley and East Bay Concerts, April-June 1967), see here

1505 San Pablo Avenue, Berkeley, CA: New Orleans House Performers List April-June 1967 

1505 San Pablo Avenue, Berkeley, CA: 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

 

 

 

 

Berkeley and East Bay Concerts, April-June 1967 ('67 Berkeley VI)

Country Joe & The Fish, Berkeley's leading rock export, as they looked in 1967. L-R: Barry Melton, David Cohen, Chicken Hirsch, Joe McDonald, Bruce Barthol

Berkeley and East Bay Concerts, April-June 1967
At the beginning of 1966, concerts at the Fillmore Auditorium and Avalon Ballroom in San Francisco transformed live rock shows and the music business itself. Rock concerts went from mere personal appearances by entertainers popular with teenagers to full expressions of art, music and culture. The live rock concert business exploded. What we understand as a rock concert today can be traced directly to those early 1966 concerts at the Fillmore and Avalon.

The Fillmore and Avalon had concerts every weekend in 1966, but they weren't large venues. The Fillmore held about 1500, and the Avalon somewhat less. Yet the shows were generally crowded, though few of the bands had even made a record, much less scored a hit. It was a true underground rock scene, that rarest of birds in the rock sky. Not all of the fans came from just the Haight-Ashbury, either. Many came from the Peninsula, and many came from surrounding colleges and universities. No school could have had more Fillmore rock fans than the University of California at Berkeley, since the school was so large, and transbay access to the ballrooms was so easy. The Bay Bridge, following the path of the old Key System, took patrons straight from downtown Berkeley to the city, just a quick sprint away from the Fillmore district. 

With so many rock fans in the city of Berkeley, it's no surprise that there was a growing rock scene there starting in 1966. The City and University were already centers of protest, long hair and rebellion, anyway--why not add some loud rock and roll to the mix? Yet live rock concerts had great difficulty taking hold in Berkeley, or anywhere nearby. But it wasn't for lack of trying. Some years ago--fourteen, actually--I began working up a list of concerts in Berkeley, Oakland and the rest of Alameda County.  This post will focus on rock concerts in Berkeley and the East Bay from April through June 1967 (see below for links to prior posts). Anyone with any recollections, corrections, insights or clever speculation should include them in the Comments. Flashbacks actively encouraged. 

The little bandshell and stage at Provo Park, as it appeared in 2009

Berkeley Rock Scene, Status Report: April 1967
Berkeley was a prosperous college town with a flagship State University. Up until the Beatles, however, Berkeley was the kind of place that casually turned up its nose at rock and roll, implying that it was "kid stuff" for unlettered teenagers. Berkeley had some folk clubs, and there was some jazz, and both went well with protest, which was practically a spectator sport. Some students followed the California Golden Bears football or basketball team, but that was considered kid stuff, too.

The biggest venue in town was the Berkeley Community Theater, a 3500 seat auditorium on Grove Street (now Martin Luther King Jr Way), at Allston. The Theater was the city auditorium, but it was also on the campus of Berkeley High School. Not only was it really too large for the rock market, but because it was on a campus, it often wasn't available on school nights. There were some venues on the UC Campus, like Harmon Gym or the new Pauley Ballroom, but they, too were restricted by the institution. In any case, neither UC Berkeley nor Berkeley High needed the money that came from booking shows, so it was tough for would-be promoters. Similar to San Francisco, free concerts in the main city park and on the UC Campus formed a big part of the Berkeley rock scene.

This post will be part of a series looking at the evolution of live rock in Berkeley in 1967. Berkeley's first rock club, the New Orleans House, had opened in January.  A folk club, The Jabberwock, at 2901 Telegraph (at Russell, across from the Co-Op market), sometimes booked rock bands, but they were mostly folk musicians who had bought an amplifier. The best known of those were Country Joe & The Fish, made up of former Jabberwock folkies. Since we have covered the history of both those venues, and Joe & The Fish, in great detail elsewhere, this chronicle will focus on the somewhat-larger-but-not-very venues where concerts were booked. In the East Bay, there were plenty of rock fans. The posts about 1967 rock concerts in Berkeley and the East Bay will focus on the struggle was finding a venue for the type of concerts that people wanted to see, like they did at the Fillmore or the Avalon.

 

Tiny Maple Hall in San Pablo, CA around 1951

April 1, 1967 Maple Hall, San Pablo, CA: Quicksilver Messenger Service (Saturday)
In late 1966, enterprising students at Berkeley High School had started booking their own rock bands around town. One venue they found was Maple Hall, in nearby San Pablo, yet still in another county (Contra Costa). Maple Hall held about 200 patrons. After a little while, the local Fillmore bands discovered they could book a gig there, too. So, for a little while, the Fillmore bands headlined at Maple Hall, usually supported by some of the Berkeley High bands.

San Pablo, CA is 10 miles and 20 minutes North of downtown Berkeley. It is a tiny city almost entirely surrounded by the much larger city of Richmond. In 1966, San Pablo would have had a population of about 18,000. Most Berkeley residents, much less college students, have no idea San Pablo even exists. Driving North on San Pablo Avenue--which Berkeley college students never did anyway--the little city of San Pablo just seems to be part of Richmond. Maple Hall was part of San Pablo's city hall complex. The original Maple Hall had burned down in 1946, but prior to that it had hosted many performers, as it was a significant venue for the "Music Row" that had entertained Richmond shipyard workers during WW2. Bob Wills and many others had played there. The address was probably 13381 San Pablo Avenue, although Maple Hall apparently faced Church Lane.

Maple Hall had been rebuilt by 1950, and had returned to hosting music shows. The Berkeley High crowd discovered they could rent it, and started putting on shows there. College students didn't apparently attend Maple Hall shows, but the local Richmond residents did show up (in a Cream Puff War article, they are referred to as "greasers"). Bands like Quicksilver would soon find their Saturday nights filled with much bigger gigs. At this time, however, although Quicksilver was a regular Fillmore and Avalon headliner, the band members were still living hand-to-mouth. They happily took smaller local gigs when they were available. 

Quicksilver Messenger Service was one of the pioneering Fillmore bands. In mid-1967, they still had not recorded but they were local underground heroes. At this time, Quicksilver was a quintet, with guitarist Jimmy Murray joining the "core four" who would play on the debut album--John Cipollina and Gary Duncan on guitars, David Freiberg on bass and Greg Elmore on drums. Duncan, Freiberg and Murray sang, and Murray played some harmonica. The 5-piece Quicksilver had harmony singing and was distinctly more "folk-rock" than what would be released on their 1968 Capitol Records debut. 

Presumably some local bands opened for Quicksilver at Maple Hall.

April 7-8, 1967  Maple Hall, San Pablo, CA: Big Brother and The Holding Company/The Illusions/ Overbrook Express (Friday-Saturday)
Big Brother and The Holding Company were another pioneering Fillmore band. In June 1966, they had added singer Janis Joplin. The group had been signed to Mainstream Records, but had only released a few singles. Nonetheless, word had already gotten around about how powerful Janis was in person. The guitars of Sam Andrews and James Gurley gave a sharp psychedelic edge to the band, later captured on the album Cheap Thrills (Columbia 1968). 

After these shows, the rock scene simply outgrew tiny Maple Hall. The building continued to present music, but major Fillmore rock bands were simply too big for the tiny San Pablo room. The Illusions and Overbrook Express were local bands about which I know almost nothing.

An April 21, 1967 Oakland Tribune article explains how the City of Berkeley approved free concerts in the downtown park

April 9, 1967 Telegraph Avenue, Berkeley, CA: Loading Zone/others (Sunday) “Hippie Happening”
According to an article in the April 21, 1967 Oakland Tribune, local hippies planned an event in which Telegraph Avenue (at the foot of campus) was blocked off, and thousands of hippies congregated peacefully while various rock bands played. The city was not informed of this event in advance. The Loading Zone was certainly one of the bands, as Zone manager Ron Barnett was quoted in the article.

For the hippie rock bands in Berkeley, free concerts were about the only way to get heard. There was only one rock club (New Orleans House) and no regular concert venue like the Fillmore. So if a band couldn't snag an opening act at one of the rare local concerts, no potential fans were ever going to hear them. Thus free concerts at either Provo Park or Sproul Plaza was the best way to get heard. Of course, the city had never sanctioned free concerts in the park, but bands had just showed up and plugged in. Yet they had to be careful about publicizing these events, since they had no permission. The same was true for campus. Protest rallies were usually scheduled, but noisy rock band appearances hadn't officially been approved. 

As a result of this "Happening," Berkeley officially approved concerts in Constitution Park, the city's main park. The hippies called it Provo Park, because, well, Berkeley (see April 23 '67 below). The bands were booked through the Berkeley Parks & Rec department, but the bands apparently had to provide their own PA.

Pauley Ballroom is on the second floor of the Student Union building at UC Berkeley. The Bear's Lair cafe is just below it. This 2010 view is from Lower Sproul Plaza.

April 21, 1967 Pauley Ballroom, UC Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Loading Zone/Second Coming/Dusty Miller & Symphony/Motor (Friday)
Pauley Ballroom was on the second floor of the Student Union building. It could hold about 1000 patrons. Student groups or promoters could rent Pauley for concerts. There were usually limits, such as only on weekend nights, and time limits for the shows (typically ending at midnight). Although the sound wasn't great thanks to low ceilings, it was convenient and accessible for rock gigs. Unfortunately, by definition it could never be a permanent rock venue.

The Loading Zone had been Oakland's first export to the Fillmore scene. The band had formed out of the ashes of a Berkeley band called The Marbles. In 1966, The Marbles had fallen apart, and they merged with the remnants of the jazzy Tom Paul Trio. Guitarists Steve Dowler and Pete Shapiro shared the front line with organist and singer Paul Fauerso. Loading Zone was the first of the  ballroom bands to merge psychedelic rock with R&B, with long feedback-drenched solos on top of a funky beat. Ballroom crowds loved it, and Loading Zone showed promoters and musicians that it would work. They kicked open a door that was walked through by Sly And The Family Stone and then Tower Of Power. Their unheralded history is complex, but we have looked at it at great length.

The Loading Zone played numerous free concerts in Provo Park and Sproul Plaza, and then capitalized on it by playing gigs at Pauley Ballroom, New Orleans House and elsewhere. They were an excellent live band, and their psychedelic R&B was ahead of its time, so the strategy worked well. In any case, there wasn't really another method in Berkeley to build an audience, as they didn't have a record. 

Motor and Second Coming performed regularly at New Orleans House, Berkeley's first and (in 1967) only rock club.  Second Coming was led by guitarists Vic Smith and David Lieberman. Drummer John Francis Gunning had been pushed out of Country Joe & The Fish. Bassist Marc Pessar and organist Mike Lafferty rounded out the band. Guitarist Bob Zuckerman explained the story of Motor (personal email): 

My old band Motor was formed in 1966 by myself on guitar and my friend Stu Feldman on bass.  Our original lead singer was Paul Wright, drummer was Ralph (can’t remember his last name right now, I’ll get it to you with some stories later - ) and Greg Turman on lead guitar.  Paul left the group, and we reverted to a 4 piece.  We wrote almost all of our own material, which was heavily sarcastic/humorous/political, as well as a few rock standards, blues, etc.  We  performed every Sunday for about two years at the so called Provo Park along with the Loading Zone, and many other groups.  Stu was the guy who did the bookings (bands, times, dates).  We played at all of the stop the draft week rallies, people’s park rallies, as well as local clubs.  The New Orleans House was one of our regulars. 

Dusty Miller & Symphony are unknown to me. A "Dusty Miller" is a kind of garden flower, so it is not likely a person.

April 22, 1967  Berkeley Community Theater, Berkeley, CA: The Fugs/Allen Ginsberg (Saturday)
The Fugs weren't really a rock band, except insofar as their outrageousness was acceptable, or even appealing, to rock fans. Folk fans were far more squeamish about folk songs like "Kill For Peace." The Fugs had been formed by three East Village folksingers, Ed Sanders, Tuli Kupferberg and Ken Weaver, joined at various times by members of the Holy Modal Rounders and/or other Greenwich Village groups. The Fugs--yes, the name was meant to imply exactly what you think--had recorded two albums for the tiny ESP label.

The Fugs were popular in Berkeley, too, not least because they were tuned into the community. Apparently Allen Ginsberg appeared at the Berkeley Community Theater show, too, although that is hard to confirm. The Fugs played a free concert in Golden Gate Park on the following Monday (April 24), along with Country Joe & The Fish, to raise bail for some hippies who were busted for playing unauthorized music in the park.

April 23, 1967  Provo Park, Berkeley, CA: Loading Zone/New Delhi River Band/Motor/Notes From The Underground (Sunday) rained out
As a result of the friendly but unscheduled “happening” on 9 April (see above), the city agreed with Loading Zone manager Ron Barnett (quoted in the April 21 Tribune article) that the band just wanted a place to play. As a result, the city agreed to regular concerts in Provo Park, thus sanctioning what was already occurring.
    
However, there was extensive rain and the show was rescheduled for the next Sunday (April 30).

April 29, 1967  Hearst Gym, UC Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Country Joe & The Fish/San Francisco Mime Troupe/Cleanliness and Godliness Skiffle Band (Saturday) The Pretentious Folk Front present the First Annual Hippie Fair and Bazaar
This peculiarly-titled event was apparently to make up for some canceled Fish gigs in San Francisco. Hearst Gym was the smaller Women’s Gym near Bancroft and Bowditch. “The Pretentious Folk Front,” a nominal student organization (CGSB bassist Richard Saunders was a UC Student, and he was the “front”), was used to get access to University buildings. At least as late as the 1980s, student groups could get cheap access to University facilities, so often groups were "formed" in order to get the use of a room or venue (I was the Vice President of the Rhetoric Department Graduate Student Association, just sayin'). In the end, it appears the event was moved to Pauley Ballroom. 

The Cleanliness and Godliness Skiffle Band had formed at the Jabberwock out of the same casual ensemble that was the genesis of Country Joe & The Fish. The Instant Action Jug Band had regularly performed at the 'Wok around 1965. There were about a dozen potential members of the group, and on any given night whichever members did not have a gig or a date were ready to spring into action and perform. CGSB initially played Skiffle music, which was essentially New Orleans jug band music. It was string band music, but with more of a beat. The leaders were singer/guitarists Phil Marsh and "Dynamite" Annie Johnston (we have detailed the history of the CGSB at great length).

A view of the stage area from the back of Provo Park in Berkeley (2009)

April 30, 1967  Provo Park, Berkeley, CA: Loading Zone/New Delhi River Band/Motor/Mad River (Sunday) free concert
After the rainout of April 23, the bands reconvened in Provo Park for the first officially sanctioned free concert. Notes From The Underground were replaced by Mad River, newly arrived from Yellow Springs, OH. Mad River was one of the most unique bands on the Berkeley scene. They had formed  the general milieu of the very progressive Antioch College.  Unlike almost every other '60s band, with their penchant for rambling jams, Mad River had carefully orchestrated parts, even though their feedback-driven sound suggested no preparation at all.  The group had arrived in Berkeley in April 1967, and began gigging in Berkeley and San Francisco almost immediately. Due to an early meeting with popular writer Richard Brautigan, Mad River had an early affiliation with San Francisco’s radical Diggers group. At this time, the band lived together in an apartment on Blake Street near the Berkeley campus.

Mad River did not "jam the blues" the way other local bands did, nor was their music based on folk songs. Their music sounded closer to what would later be called progressive rock, but in a Berkeley psychedelic way. They were definitely an acquired taste, and they weren't fully appreciated until record collectors discovered their 1968 debut album on Capitol Records many years after they broke up. Mad River was yet another band who initially released a privately produced single as their first record.

May 1, 1967    Wheeler Auditorium, UC Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Country Joe and The Fish/Paul Krassner (Monday) 7:45pm & 9:30pm
Wheeler Auditorium was one of the largest lecture halls on campus in this era, seating about 500 (Note to old Berkeley undergraduates—1 PSL had not been built at this time). This, too was a student event, in order to get access to Wheeler Hall (the group was Campus Movement for a New America). Paul Krassner was a popular satirist, in effect a sort of current-events-comedian.

In the interests of full disclosure, to the best of my recollection, both my undergraduate (A.B.) and graduate (M.A.) diploma ceremonies were in Wheeler Auditorium.

May 5, 1967 Pauley Ballroom, UC Berkeley, Berkely, CA: Loading Zone (Friday)

May 6, 1967  Greek Theatre, UC Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Jefferson Airplane/Dick Gregory (Saturday)
The Greek Theatre was easily the largest venue on the UC Campus, but the University rarely let it be used for rock shows. By this time, the Jefferson Airplane were a hit national band with an album and singles on the charts, and Dick Gregory was a popular comedian in his own right, so the size of the venue (7500 capacity) was more appropriate. The Dick Gregory/Jefferson Airplane pairing had played Frost Amphitheater at Stanford University the night before. 

Tiny print in the Airplane poster (above) notes that the concert was a benefit for Cal Camp. Concerts at UC facilities had to turn over profits to a designated charity (Cal Camp was a summer camp). Everyone involved--bands, crew, promoter--all got paid contracted amounts, so it was only a benefit in a narrow, formal sense. 

Jefferson Airplane were the flagship of the "San Francisco Sound" and the Fillmore scene. Their second RCA album, Surrealistic Pillow, had been released in February 1967. It was their first album with Grace Slick. "Somebody To Love" was a massive hit, reaching #5 on the Billboard chart. The song was relatively uncompromising for AM radio, with Jack and Jorma playing aggressive lines and Grace belting it out. There was no goopy sweetener. The song, followed by June's "White Rabbit," was the clarion call for the Summer Of Love. 

Dick Gregory was a successful comedian, satirist and author.

May 7, 1967  Provo Park, Berkeley, CA: Loading Zone/SF Mime Troupe (Sunday)

May 10, 1967 Pauley Ballroom, UC Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Loading Zone (Thursday)
UC Berkeley had an annual event called "The Beaux Arts Festival." Many other schools had similar events. I believe it was a celebration and display of the artistic achievements of the students. Music was part of the festival, and various musicians would play. I think this event was just a celebration dance. Note that Loading Zone had played for free in Provo Park the prior two weekends, and was now at a paying gig. This was a conscious strategy.

May 13, 1967 Wurster Hall, UC Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Steve Miller Blues Band (Saturday) Beaux Arts Ball
Wurster Hall was the Architecture building at UC Berkeley, a vast expansive structure that had only been completed in 1966. I think the final celebration of the Beaux Arts Festival was here, since it was called "The Beaux Arts Ball." I assume that there was art on display and likely films, too, and the Steve Miller Blues Band played for dancing (see May 28 below for more about the Miller Blues Band).

An ad in the Berkeley Barb for the May 21, 1967 benefit at the Finnish Hall

May 21, 1967 Finnish Brotherhood Hall, Berkeley, CA: Country Joe & The Fish/Loading Zone/Afro Blues Persuation/Motor/Cleanliness and Godliness Skiffle Band/Haymarket Riot (Sunday)
This show was a benefit, although I’m not certain for what cause. Country Joe & The Fish were also billed at The Avalon this night. Since bands had little equipment (by modern standards), bands playing two gigs in a night was very plausible. The Finnish Brotherhood Hall, at 1970 Chesnut Street, just off University Avenue, had been built in 1932. It had been regularly used for concerts, but since it held only about 200 people, it rapidly became too small.

The Afro-Blues Persuasion was led by Ulysses Crockett, who played vibraphone and flute. The band played regularly at a coffee shop called Haight Levels in San Francisco, as well as around the East Bay. They played funky jazz, and at times some heavy players (like bassist Paul Jackson) played with the band. The group did release a few singles, and two archival live lps (from Haight Levels) were released in 2019. Ulysses Crockett went on to become an Alameda County Prosecutor and taught law. 

Haymarket Riot was a Berkeley band that would evolve into the group Lazarus. Though not a major band, they did feature Peter and Steve Barsotti, who were two of Bill Graham's chief lieutenants from the 1970s onwards. 

May 21, 1967 Gym, Willard Junior High School, Berkeley, CA: Loading Zone/New Delhi River Band/Haymarket Riot (Sunday)
Willard Junior High was at Telegraph and Stuart Street, just a few blocks from the Jabberwock. Plenty of hippie rock fans lived nearby. The bands were always trying to find a viable venue on Southside, but school auditoriums never seem to have done the trick. 

The New Delhi River Band was Palo Alto's second psychedelic blues band. The band included David Nelson and Dave Torbert, later with the New Riders Of The Purple Sage. The band was very popular in the South Bay and Santa Cruz County, and had been kind of the "house band" at The Barn in Scotts Valley. They were trying to expand their footprint. They had played a number of free concerts and benefits with the Loading Zone, and were trying to extend that to paying gigs. 

May 23, 1967 Lower Sproul Plaza, UC Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Country Joe & The Fish (Tuesday) free concert
A Wire Service story about this event was picked up by a number of daily papers. The Oakland Tribune headline said “Band Cools Off Draft Protesters.” The Long Beach Independent-Press-Telegram (May 24, 1967) gleefully reported “Folk-rock music outdrew an anti-war rally on the Berkeley campus by about 40 to 1.” Apparently, about 60 listeners heard speakers on Upper (Main) Sproul while 2000 heard CJF in the plaza below. Vanguard Records had just released Country Joe & The Fish's debut album, Electric Music For The Mind And Body. It remains a psychedelic classic.

Most of the protests at UC Berkeley, an almost daily occurrence, took place in Sproul Plaza at the center of campus. An area just below Sproul, known as Lower Sproul, had a variety of student services including the Bear’s Lair Café and other amenities. Lower Sproul was still under development at this time.

Even when I attended Berkeley in the later 1970s, it was common for the University to encourage loud noontime rock concerts in Lower Sproul, and it was widely believed (with some justification) that this was to discourage protests in Sproul Plaza itself, since they would largely be drowned out. This may be one of the first instances of the University trying to use Lower Sproul concerts to defuse a protests in Upper Sproul. I wrote about the dynamics of free concerts and Lower Sproul in a prior post. In any case, with a new album out, Country Joe & The Fish were simply too large to play for free in Sproul anymore.

May 27, 1967 Pauley Ballroom, UC Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Loading Zone/Second Coming/New Age (Saturday)

The Steve Miller Blues Band, Spring '67. L-R: Curley Cooke, Steve Miller, Tim Davis, Lonnie Turner (photog unknown, via Bruno Ceriotti's chronology site)

May 28, 1967 Provo Park, Berkeley, CA: Loading Zone/Steve Miller Blues Band/Mad River/Purple Earthquake (Sunday) free concert
Steve Miller, from Madison, WI via Chicago and Texas, had relocated to Berkeley in October 1966. He recognized that there was a growing scene and that there weren't many good blues bands, so he imported some musicians from Madison. By December they knew 25 songs, and (in Miller's words) "in tune and tight," an implicit comment on other bands around at the time. The Steve Miller Blues Band shined at an Avalon audition, and soon were regular performers there. The band also played at New Orleans House, at free concerts in Provo Park, and any other gigs they could find.

At this time, the Steve Miller Blues Band was a quartet. James "Curley" Cooke was on guitar and Tim Davis played drums and sang, both from Madison. Bassist Lonnie Turner, previously of Berkeley's Second Coming, had been drafted on bass. Miller played lead guitar and sang, as well as playing pretty good harmonica. 

Purple Earthquake was a Berkeley High School band. Ultimately they would evolve into the band Earth Quake, who would release two early-70s albums on A&M and then start their own successful Beserkely Records label. Guitarist Robbie Dunbar and bassist Stan Miller were already in Purple Earthquake, and they would remain members of the group all the way through 1980.

May 30, 1967 Provo Park, Berkeley, CA: New Delhi River Band/Motor/Purple Earthquake (Tuesday) free concert
Weekend concerts at Provo Park were regular occurrences, but we only have records of them when there were eyewitnesses or (as in this case) a poster.

June 14, 1967 ASUC Building, UC Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Psychedelic Poster Exhibition (Thursday)
While not a rock concert, this exhibition of rock concert poster art celebrated for the new UC Art Museum.  Alton Kelly made a poster for it. The ASUC Building included Pauley Ballroom and The Bear’s Lair. ASUC stood for Associated Students of The University of California. All Berkeley students pronounce it “A-suck”, usually with relish. 

There were almost no concerts in and around Berkeley during June of 1967. Two things to note:

• UC Berkeley would have been at the end of Spring Term, and the University typically frowned on concerts and events as the semester ended
• Bill Graham had put the Fillmore on a six-days-a-week schedule for the Summer of '67. The Avalon was open four nights (Thursday-Sunday) as well. San Francisco was awash in exciting rock concerts--mind you, the Monterey Pop Festival was June 16-18--so the more modest Berkeley events had no traction. 

June 25, 1967  Provo Park, Berkeley, CA: Loading Zone/Steve Miller Blues Band/Cleanliness and Godliness Skiffle Band/Motor (Sunday) free concert
Italian scholar Bruno Ceriotti has an extraordinarily detailed chronology of the Steve Miller Blues Band from this period, and he reported this great eyewitness account: 

"At one of the Provo Park concerts I attended, the Steve Miller Blues Band was supposed to play, but they didn't show," an eyewitness recalls. "I'm guessing that it was June 25, 1967, because I would have gone to see Dynamite Annie [of Cleanliness and Godliness Skiffle Band] perform, and it stayed light well into the evening. After the other bands had finished playing, everyone (hundreds were there) went home. The only people left were myself and three other guys playing Frisbee. After a while, a van pulled up and Steve and his band emerged and began to unload their equipment. We went over and told them that since there were only four of us, they didn't need to perform. Steve responded, 'We're going to play.' And play they did. Eventually, passers-by heard the music and a decent crowd developed, but for 15 minutes or so, the four of us had a free personal concert from Steve Miller. Only in Berkeley in the 60's could stuff like this happen."

By the end of June, the Steve Miller Blues Band had become a quintet. Organist Jim Peterman, drummer Tim Davis' former college roommate, had graduated from the University of Wisconsin and had flown out to join the band.

June 25, 1967  Pauley Ballroom, UC Berkeley Country Joe & The Fish/The New Age (Sunday)
The New Age were a unique psychedelic acoustic trio that had become popular at The Jabberwock. Guitarist Pat Kilroy had released a somewhat conventional folk record on Vanguard in 1966, called Light Of Day. He was now joined by Susan Graubard, who played flute and koto (a Japanese stringed instrument), and percussionist Jeffrey Lewis (who had replaced tabla player Bob Amacker). They played dreamy, ethereal music. It's easy to say now that a guitar/flute/congas combo is "typical New Age music," but in 1967, there was no such thing. The New Age were literally the pioneers of New Age music, even if they are obscure today. They recorded an album for Warner Brothers, but it was shelved when Pat Kilroy died of Hodgkin's Lymphoma on Christmas 1967. Switzerland's RD Records ultimately released the material in 2007.

"Colors For Susan," written by Joe McDonald and released on the second album (I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'- To-Die, Vanguard December '67) was written for Susan Graubard.

June 28, 1967 Oakland Auditorium, Oakland, CA: The Young Rascals/Country Joe and The Fish/The Sons of Champlin/The Sparrow/Grass Roots (Wednesday) Bill Quarry Presents
Bill Quarry's Teens N Twenties (TNT) production company was a major promoter in the East Bay, but they were focused more on high school students in the suburbs than the college and Fillmore underground market. Quarry's principal venue was a roller rink in San Leandro, called The Rollarena, where he booked concerts every Friday night. Mostly the bands playing the Rollarena and other TNT venues were cover bands that were good to dance to. Still, some good bands played the Rollarena on occasion, like Them and Buffalo Springfield. By mid-67, however, even the San Leandro kids were more interested in going to the Fillmore than down to the local Union Hall. They wanted to see cool underground bands, not their peers playing Rolling Stones songs. Quarry had tried putting on a big show with Eric Burdon and The Animals, at the huge new Oakland Coliseum Arena (on March 25 '67) but that had been a debacle.

The Oakland Auditorium Arena had been built in 1915, and had a capacity of 5,400 or more, depending on the configuration. It had some history--Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show had played there in 1915, Elvis Presley in '56 and '57 and so many others. TNT presented a big, multi-act show, headlined by the Young Rascals. The Young Rascals (later just The Rascals) were a New Jersey band who had hit it big merging rock with R&B, and had scored a giant hit in '66 with a cover of The Olympics' "Good Lovin." In support were some underground bands, like Country Joe & The Fish. The Sons Of Champlin were a Marin band backed by Kingston Trio manager Frank Werber, The Sparrow were from Toronto and lived in Sausalito and liked to jam the blues, while The Grass Roots were more of an LA band, led now by Creed Bratton and Rob Grill. The poster had Avalon-style lettering, and the promoter was "Bill Quarry" rather than the more teenage "TNT."

The Sparrow did not make the gig. They moved to Los Angeles, reconfigured themselves and became Steppenwolf, going on to absolutely huge success. They were replaced on the bill by another underground band, the Grateful Dead, who had just released their Warner Brothers debut in March of 1967. This was the Dead's first appearance at the Oakland Auditorium, a venue that would ultimately loom large in their history.

Status Report: Berkeley Rock Concert Scene, July 1967
San Francisco rock music was flying high, led by Jefferson Airplane. Berkeley's own Country Joe & The Fish had a popular new album, too. The Steve Miller Blues Band was rising quickly. So Berkeley music and musicians were playing an important role in the Fillmore scene, but Berkeley didn't really have a concert scene. The one steady contribution was the now-official free shows in Provo Park, where local bands could get heard. Once they got known, however, they weren't likely to play for free.

For the next post in the '67 Berkeley series (New Orleans House Performers List July-September 1967) see here

For the previous post in the '67 Berkeley series (May 23, 1967 Lower Sproul Plaza: Country Joe & The Fish) see here

Other Posts in the East Bay Concert Series

 Berkeley and East Bay Concerts, September-December 1965 (Berkeley I)

 Berkeley and East Bay Concerts, January-March 1966 (Berkeley II)

 Berkeley and East Bay Concerts, April-June 1966 (Berkeley III)

Berkeley and East Bay Concerts, July-September 1966 (Berkeley IV)

Berkeley and East Bay Concerts, October-December 1966 (Berkeley V) 

Berkeley and East Bay Concerts, January-March 1967 ('67 Berkeley III)

Provo Park, Berkeley Concerts, 1967-69

For the Berkeley, Oakland and East Bay Rock History Navigation Tracker, see here

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