The first Cal Jam was held on 6th April 1974 at Ontario Motor Speedway in Ontario, Southern California.
Promoter Lenny Stogel felt the location for this 12-hour gig was ideal. Two highways bordered the speedway and it was within driving distance of LA and San Diego. It also had parking for 50,000 cars.
It had been hoped to get Led Zeppelin, The Band or The Stones to play but their fees were too high.
However, the headlining bands were still top calibre: ELP, Black Sabbath and Deep Purple. Also on the bill were boogie merchants Black Oak Arkansas, Seals and Croft, Rare Earth, The Eagles and Earth Wind and Fire.
Now that’s what I call a killer bill eh!
Stogel was sure that the way to make a festival a success was to keep everyone’s attention 100% of the time, so to that end he had a stage built on tracks and with hydraulic lifts so that one band’s gear could be set up while another played their set. Then within 15 minutes of a band leaving the stage, the next was ready to go. On top of that skydivers, stunt men, skateboarders and other entertainers kept people amused.
ELP had a hell of a lot of gear by this time and had to have a special platform constructed for them – impressive really when you consider there were only three of them in the band. It was around this time that Carl Palmer had a 100% steel drum-kit built which weighed something insane like a tonne and must have needed its own truck to ferry it around.
The gig pulled in 200,000 fans, all paying $10 a ticket; the gross was one of the biggest in rock at that time. ABC filmed it for their In Concert series. It’s this footage that you will see on all manner of DVDs of Purple and Sabbath in particular.
First on, were Rare Earth who hit the stage 15 minutes early! Although it was still just 1974, it already felt a long way from the hippy fests of five years earlier. Some felt it was brilliantly organized and executed, others saw it as the death of experimentation and creativity.
However, the music was at times superb. Purple, with the newly installed David Coverdale on vocals and Glenn Hughes on bass, played most of the new Burn album and Blackmore was on excellent form. They finished their set in mayhem with Blackmore throwing guitars into the crowd, sticking his guitar into one of ABC’s cameras, dousing his amps in petrol and blowing them up! They left the site by helicopter fearing ABC might be a bit cross about all this and want the police to arrest them.
ELP closed the show. You’ll have seen the famous footage of Emerson playing a grand piano while spinning 50 foot up in the air! It’s an amazing site to say the least.
Lenny Stogel later said: “I didn’t want anything popping off unexpected. I wanted to be in total control… two hundred thousand kids is a big responsibility. I used to get a funny feeling in my stomach whenever I thought about it. I had to be in control – for the preservation of my sanity.”
Stogel was to die in 1979 in a DC-10 plane crash in Chicago.
The lure of the big bucks made Cal Jam II inevitable at some point. 18th March 1978 was the date for the gig at the same location. This time, 250,000 turned up, it was also filmed and this time it was recorded for an album.
By now the old festival spirit of love, peace and grooviness was definitely gone. This was all about everyone making big money from rock n roll.
The line up was FM radio friendly. Santana headlined, supported by Dave Mason, Heart, Aerosmith, Ted Nugent, Mahogany Rush, Rubicon and Bob Welch. Some commented that this illustrated the so-called stagnation of rock in the late 70s. The performers had a choice of either being helicoptered in from The Beverly Hills hotel or chauffeured in lavish customized vans with artwork of the bands latest album spray-painted on the side. I’ve seen a photo of the Heart van – it looks awful – like a cheesy cartoon style painting you’d see at a fairground.
This was the era of rock star excess. Plates of M & M’s with the yellow ones removed and pinball machines backstage and all that – all of which must have been great fun for the musicians but a bit of a pain in the backside for those who had to service their needs.
The Cal Jams were undoubtedly a big success for the promoters and for the bands too and they are fondly remembered by many who attended. There’s no doubt some brilliant music was played. It was at such gigs that the modern notion of a well-organised festival was born.
It wasn’t like the counter-culture happening that were so revolutionary a few years earlier, but it was nonetheless a great place to get your rock n roll rocks off, and who amongst us can’t say that isn’t a very, very good thing!
CHAPTER 6
The Denver Pop Festival 1968
This festival went down in history as one of the most violent of the era with cops and long-hairs fighting pitched battles.
It seems that the violence was partly the result of radical activists. The American Liberation Front, a collective of young Socialist, radical clergy, students for a democratic society and anti-war protestors, had got a permit from Denver City Hall to stage a series of protests and demos at City Park culminating with a Fourth of July march through downtown.
The ALF leaders wanted to get festival-goers to join their ranks, one of the first instances of outright politicisation of the counter culture. City leaders didn’t like the idea of this at all, and drew up plans to prevent it happening by enticing festival campers to pitch up at the local baseball ground rather than in the park where the demos were to be held. Free transport would take them to the gig.
Ticket prices were $6 per day, or $15 for all three days on 27th to 29th June.
The Denver Pop Festival was promoted by Barry Fey, the leading dude in the area and a man who had put gigs on at Red Rock and Denver Auditorium. The festival was to be held in Mile High Stadium; it made sense because all the facilities were already there so all Fey had to do was stage the music and take the tickets. That was the theory anyway.
The line up was headed by Jimi Hendrix, along with CCR, Three Dog Night, Joe Cocker, Poco, Iron Butterfly, Willie Mae ‘Big Mama’ Thornton, Taj Mahal, Johnny Winter and one of the first appearances by The Mothers Of Invention. Incidentally, Zephyr were also on the bill, a local band featuring a young Tommy Bolin – do check out Zephyr’s albums – they’re well worth it.
Thornton opened the gig on Friday night, followed by The Flock – featuring violinist Jerry Goodman who was to later play with Mahavishnu Orchestra (wasn’t he also Nash The Slash?)
Then came Three Dog Night, The Mothers and Iron Butterfly
Everything seemed cool with only a couple of gate-crashing incidents for the Police to deal with. The music was loud so many ticket-less fans just hung around outside to groove anyway. The ALF passed out literature but there was no hassle.
This all changed on Saturday evening. The gig was due to start at 6.30pm. Fans with tickets were let in at 5.30 and while that was happening, a large crowd that had gathered at the south end of the stadium. They charged the fence, only to be repelled by Police and security, however several hundred managed to get in. By 7.30pm another large group had gathered by the main gate. Police reinforcements arrived in riot gear which only provoked people more and a hail of bottles and rocks were thrown at the cops, while those who had got in for free began to attack the security from inside the stadium.
When one cop was floored by a wine bottle, the tear gas was brought out and fired at the mob who simply threw the canisters back. In what sounds like a scene from the Simpsons, the prevailing wind then took the gas into the stadium which understandably upset the fans who were at the time watching Johnny Winter. Panic broke out and Barry Fey, under pressure from the Denver Police Chief, opened the gates up and let everyone outside in for free.
Barry was not a happy man, and was angry that the Police hadn’t kept control. Now a precedent had been set for Sunday night, and another big crowd gathered, demanding to get in free.
This time, the cops, feeling like they’d been humiliated by a bunch of student and long-haired freaks the previous night, were determined not to give in. Retaliation was in the air. Police dogs surrounded the stadium, an extra platoon of cops in riot gear was deployed, and a thing called a pepper-fog machine was on hand to pump tear gas and skin-burning mace into the air. Everything you need for a good night of rock n roll eh?!
This provoked the kids to throw more rocks, which in turn provoked the police to use the pepper-fog like a machine gun, mowing down their enemy. As kids tried to get away they were billy-clubbed and arrested. Violence was rife on all sides. Who was to blame? It wasn’t easy to say; no one was innocent. However, many in the alternative community felt that the authorities were simply scared of what they saw as the threat of the counter culture and that the ‘straight’ town officials just totally over-reacted and panicked.
Fey was under pressure from the cops to open the gates again to stop more trouble and again he gave in. Over 3,000 gate-crashed and caught the end of Hendrix’s set. He played Purple Haze and legged it as a wave of gate-crashers poured across the field towards the stage. It was to be the Experience’s last ever performance
The whole festival was a disaster and city fathers said it would be the first and least festival the city ever put on because it was impossible to control such large scale events. However, only 50,000 (at most) had actually attended at any one time so it was far from a big sprawling festival such as Woodstock which would happen a few weeks later.
However, the idea of containing a festival within a stadium was an idea that was not dead and it would be resurrected in the 70s to greater effect because it offered the chance to regulate and control fans with more sensitive policing.
In hindsight, it’s easy to see how and why the authorities got this wrong. The left-wing activists mixed up with a bunch of long-haired kids and freaks looked like revolution to some people; the end of the American way. It wasn’t, of course, and it was never going to be – most just wanted to have a good time and get their dose of rock n roll.
No one came out of this one with much honour. The set that Hendrix played – which is of course available as a bootleg – is very, very good though. But it must have been hard to dig it when your eyes are streaming with tear gas!
CHAPTER 7
Miami Pop Festival 1968
We’re talking here about the event on 28th December to the 30th December. There was a smaller Miami event in the May of the same year. But this was important moment in festival history as it was the first major one held on the east coast. Over 100,000 attended.
It as actually held in Hallandale, just outside of Miami in Gulfstream Park, a massive race track. Promoter Tom Rounds, who had organised the Mount Tam fest in Oakland the previous year, amazingly rented the track for just $5,000 and a 5% gross of the gate. This more or less guaranteed a decent profit could be made.
Rounds and his associates had already realised you needed to get everyone on your side, so he secured backing of local Governor Claude Kirk, the Mayor of Hallandale and local community groups, all of whom worked together to solve difficulties over sleeping arrangements and traffic jams.
This was an early example of a two stage festival where one band could set up while another played on another stage a few hundred yards away. With stalls and booths in between it ensured there was always plenty to do and the music was more or less continuous with bands all playing around 45 minutes each.
The line up was broad-ranging. From the folk side of things were Joni, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Richie Havens and Ian & Sylvia. Blues was represented by the brilliant Butterfield Blues Band - do check out all their albums if you can: hardcore electric Chicago blues at its finest.
Also on the bill were Canned Heat, Booker T and the James Cotton blues Band. Hugh Masekela and the Charles Lloyd Quarter were the jazz element; soul was there in the shape of Marvin Gaye, The Box Tops, Junior Walker and Joe Tex – that’s hot stuff right there, eh!
If you fancied a bit of bluegrass then Flatt & Scruggs were there to finger-pick you to heaven. On the pop side were The Turtles, Three Dog Night and Jose Feliciano.
And finally there were the rock n roll bands. Oh yeah. You got Terry Reid; Procul Harem; Fleetwood Mac; Country Joe; The Dead; Pacific Gas & Electric; Iron Butterfly, Steppenwolf, Sweetwater and Chuck Berry and a host of other local bands. This was one hell of a lot of music, wasn’t it? And all for just $7.
The Dead’s set was Turn On Your Love Light> Dark Star> St. Stephen> The Eleven> Drums> The Other One> Cryptical Envelopment> Feedback> We Bid You Goodnight.
By all accounts it was West Coast rockers Pacific Gas & Electric who rocked the festival, playing four times to thunderous applause. A much forgotten band, PG & E are well worth checking out. They were from Los Angeles and were an early racially mixed band. Their 1968 album Get It On, the eponymous follow-up and 1970’s Are you Ready are a fine triumverate of records. For no good reason I've recently been collecting all their singles on vinyl!
The Miami Pop Festival was a big success. No trouble, lots of great music – Rolling Stone ran a headline ‘The Most Festive Festival of 1968’ and indeed, it proved to be a great way to wrap up a great year of rock n roll.
Tom Rounds got all the plaudits and planned a follow-up fest the next year. He got everyone on board once again, but then Woodstock happened and the authorities panicked. They feared half a million kids would show up in Hallandale this time and wreck the whole place. They pulled his permits and the festival never happened. In one short year the whole festival vibe had gone from being one of groovy acceptance of this new social phenomena to fear of the breakdown of society. All of which seems a shame really.
As this festival showed early on, it was quite possible for everyone to have a good time, to get their rocks off, for the promoters and bands to get paid and for everyone to go home happy to have been part of some good vibes and great music.
Within a year Altamont had proved to be the flip side to this enlightened dream, ending in violence and murder. But in 1968 in Miami, the future still looked golden as the bands jammed together long into the night.
CHAPTER 8
The Isle Of Wight 1970
600,000 people on an island with a population of just 100,000. Political protesters taking the stage. Jimi, Jim, Joan, Joni and even Mungo Jerry (almost). The last weekend of August in 1970. It was, of course, the Isle of Wight Festival.
It would be the third year in a row that the organisers, Fiery Creations, would put on a festival on the small island off England’s South Coast. But the two previous years were not even in the ballpark in terms of size. The 1970 Festival would be the largest rock event ever, bigger even than Woodstock. But it nearly didn’t happen…
Miserable, posh, stick-in-the-mud residents didn't want the cream of the rock world descending on their patch for a third year running and shunted the site around during negotiations in a bid to make logistics as difficult as possible. Eventually, though, it was agreed to hold the event at Afton Down on the West of the Isle.
The hippies were not welcome. Brian Hinton’s excellent book on the IoW festivals contains some great material from an appalled local counsellor:
“(Local resident) Mrs H reported that at 10.30pm a stark naked man jumped out and danced in front of her car.”
and: “Mr F, High Street, reported an indecency outside his shop at 8am. He told those involved that the village was not used to such behaviour and he would send for police if they did not move on.”
The Fiery Creations lads, brothers Ray and Ron Foulk had their site: now they needed acts. And toilets. But first the acts. Once they secured Jimi, the rest fell into place pretty quickly. Bob Dylan had played the IoW the previous year – his first gig since his 1966 motorbike crash, so there was plenty of profile for the biggest US names.
They put together a stunning line-up including The Doors, The Who, Miles Davis, Sly and the Family Stone, Free and Emerson, Lake and Palmer – playing their second-ever gig. Laughing Leonard Cohen performed stand-up. Not really, but he did play – and in fact performed one of his greatest versions of the beautiful ‘Suzanne’.
Kris Kristofferson, Joni Mitchell, Joan Baez, The Moody Blues, Procul Harem, Ten Years After, a very early Supertramp, Hawkwind, Donovan, Chicago… what a feast.
“Things Ain't What They Used To Be” types might note the Isle Of White's Festival in 2008 included Will Young!
Turning from the Pop Idol winner to public toilets, the organisers had their work cut out on that score: site manager Ron Smith set up a makeshift assembly line to make loo seats in a disused button factory. Bet Perry Farrell never done that for Lollapalooza.
Anyway, because 1969 had been such a massive scrum, re-supplying the site had been nearly impossible: when bars ran out of drink there was no way to get lorries to them. So for 1970, they hit upon a scheme of having two walls around the site, so that the space between the two could be used for access. Smart idea, but a lot of the punters didn’t take to it. People felt that the site looked more like a prison camp than a festival, and the event was marred by simmering bad feeling throughout.
Suppose these days, where fans are all too used to regimented, sponsored-by-Starbucks corporate gigs, that it seems a bit unreasonable to have a go because you didn’t like the fencing, but these were different times, man. But there was an end-of-an-era vibe to the festival, as if the crowd felt that the Sixties were over now. “They’re selling hippy wigs in Woolworths,” as Withnail put it.
But, by Jebus, there were there some rocking performances over what Melody Maker called ‘Five Days That Shook The World’. The Doors played one of their greatest versions of The End, in a spooky, semi-dark stage – Jim didn’t want the strong lights that the film crew were using. If you get a chance, check out Murray Lerner’s film of the festival, Message To Love, for awesome footage of that. The Who gave it the full gun with the complete Tommy – and ended with a belting ‘My Generation’ and ‘Magic Bus’.
Also on the Saturday, Joni Mitchell's performance of ‘Woodstock’ was interrupted by distinctly Manson-ish beardie called Yogi Joe who wanted to protest the perceived corporatisation of the event. Joni pleaded with the crowd for calm and respect and played Big Yellow Taxi. “You don't know what you've got ‘til it’s gone – they paved paradise to put up a parking lot.”
Jimi Hendrix, beautiful and damned, played his second last gig on the Sunday, just three weeks before his death. He was pretty out of it beforehand – his roadies were worried that he might not even make it on stage. But he did, hammered, to some boos, and opened with a savage, magnificent take on ‘God Save The Queen’. His show was an angry, torrid climax to a thrilling, often ugly, era-defining five days.
But after the storm, there was hope as well. Richie Havens – who had opened the Woodstock festival – played last here, with the sun coming up on the final morning as he gave his lovely take on ‘Here Comes The Sun’.
Optimism, then – but there would be no repeat of the Isle Of Wight Festival. The commercial and logistical issues were just insurmountable, and the 1970 Festival stood as the last. A monument to all that was good and bad about the end of the Sixties and the way that rock music, and society, were changing.
Some fine live albums came out of the festival. Best of all is Taste Live At The Isle of Wight (not unreasonably) – with Rory on top form; The Who’s set is also available on CD and DVD as is ELP’s – cracking stuff it is too. I think there’s some of Free’s set out there too - in all their hairy magnificence – and of course Jimi’s legendary set is also available, as is almost every note Hendrix ever played on earth it seems.
There’s also a CD of the music from Murray Lerner’s movie which features everything from Leonard Cohen to Tiny Tim via the Doors and Ten Years After. The movie itself is a must see – for promoter Rikki Farr’s angry rants at the crowds trying to tear down the fences and especially for the old army dude who thinks it’s all a communist plot. Funny to think the establishment really believed the hippies were going to start a revolution. They didn’t dig what was really going on; it really was all about the music and it’s the music, now, as ever, that endures.
JN
Neil Young is a tricky man to work out. For a while now he’s been contenting himself by putting out, for want of a phrase that doesn’t send a chill through your soul, concept albums. 
It began as a little basement club that acted as a shelter for jazz fans to dance while the bombs rained down on wartime London. It served as a cauldron for trad jazz, beat music and punk. Later, it helped birth Township and African jazz in the UK, as well as launching some key indie bands. The list of performers who have played there is as long as your arm. 
Dropping out of art college pretty swiftly, Don – under encouragement from Frank Zappa – began playing the harmonica and singing. He discovered he had a powerful bass and modelled his vocal style on Howlin’ Wolf, playing as few gigs at small Southern Cali clubs.
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