whitefang Posted September 16, 2016 Author Share Posted September 16, 2016 My "14 year old math" isn't fuzzy based on your "prior to '65" statement. "Prior" would make it '64, and THAT would have made you 14. After posting I looked it up. From what I could find out it used to be named MAJESTIC HALL until 1954 when some guy named Charles Sullivan got hold of the lease. Supposedly naming it after the neighborhood it was located. No info on my source as to when Bill Graham acquired it and made it famous. My hat's off to Bill Graham as John Sinclair and Russ Gibb would have probably never acquired the old Grande and turned IT into a similar venue as was the Fillmore. And as did Graham, made it possible for many local and/or nearby out of state/city bands of a particular nature to achieve the exposure, fame and notoriety they might not have otherwise. AND bring in already well known groups of the genre and make it possible for many to see these bands in action WITHOUT the high price of an arena venue ticket. I think it was cool that San Francisco renamed their civic auditorium after Bill Graham, and fitting that he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. BTW, that "public consciousness" thing merely meant that by the time they released their first LP and the general public even HEARD of them, both BTO and CCR did NOT exist at the same time. Also later looking it up....They both DID exist at the same time, but BTO had yet to release anything the general public(or even the radio) would have heard or heard OF. Also BTW, and nothing personal, but I always thought the '60 Fords made the EDSELS look pretty! Whitefang I started out with NOTHING...and I still have most of it left! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larryz Posted September 16, 2016 Share Posted September 16, 2016 +1 "Prior" means anytime prior to Jan 1st, 1965. I could have been anywhere from 0 to 14 years of age. The point was I didn't have a car until I turned 15 and got my learner's permit so that I could travel 50 miles to go see a band. It is true that most 14 year olds do not own a car...but the same can be said of most 15 year olds. Kind of a 64/65 WhiteFang thing. It's very similar to your 72/73 BTO and CCR radio awareness thing and your 65/67 Van Morrison name recognition thing and your pre-67 oldie radio station thing...somehow it all makes sense to you... And yes, I'll dare you make fun of my 60 Ford! Only you could think an Edsel looks pretty LOL! Take care, Larryz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whitefang Posted September 17, 2016 Author Share Posted September 17, 2016 The CCR/BTO thing had nothing to do with "radio awareness". It's more like a "hair splitting" thing as I was merely relating that CCR broke up before anything by BTO hit the radio or record shops. I thought that was crystal as I WAS posting in English! As MY first car was a '60 Ford Falcon, I really have NO ROOM to speak of how butt ugly I thought '60 Fords were. Some of the gist of my post up there was about the Fillmore not being CALLED the Fillmore until 1954. I do doubt that at that time, it was the same kind of venue it eventually turned out to be, but no matter. It came to be and became legendary, so I'll leave it at that. 50 miles to see a band? WHEW! Good thing gas was cheap! You must have lived WAY out in "the boonies", or the band WAS something special! Incidentally, the youngest car owner I met was the kid brother of a guy I knew( the kid was 13). My friend got hold of an old shitbox Comet that didn't run, gave the kid access to all his tools and handed him an old MOTOR'S manual and told him, "You get it running and it's YOURS." DAMNED if the kid didn't get it running in THREE MONTHS! Both parents were dead and my buddy was raising his kid brother. Don't know whatever became of the both of them. The car thing happened back in '78. Whitefang I started out with NOTHING...and I still have most of it left! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larryz Posted September 17, 2016 Share Posted September 17, 2016 50 miles to San Francisco wasn't all that far away to see a legendary live band and dance to the music. San Jose is part of the greater bay area and not really in the boonies. Gas was only 25 cents a gallon and my old 352 V8 Ford could go from San Jose to Santa Cruz 30 miles away and back (this is where I did my surfing) on less than a dollars worth if you weren't racing and cruzing main LOL! I could kick the back seat out of that Ford and me and my buddy could get our two 9foot O'neal surf boards in the trunk without having to use surf racks! I worked all summer in '64 at Plaza Car Wash at a $1.10 an hour to buy that old Ford for $150 bucks. I saw one a couple of years ago at a car show and it sure brought back a lot of cool memories...We had local bands like CCR and The Doobies that played much closer in too back in '72... Take care, Larryz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whitefang Posted September 18, 2016 Author Share Posted September 18, 2016 Hmm.....bought your first car on CAR WASH money, eh? Then we ARE kindred spirits, ain't we? Worked a few of them in my time. I think it both amusing and sad when I relate to kids how back in "the day" we used to be able to fill up on $5.00 and someone would pump it FOR you! AND clean the windsheild too! So, which "legendary" bands did you drive the 50 miles to see back when you were 15? Whitefang I started out with NOTHING...and I still have most of it left! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larryz Posted September 18, 2016 Share Posted September 18, 2016 Jim Croce's Working At The Car Wash Blues still cracks me up every time I hear it or play it LOL! I didn't drive the 50 miles at 15 (in '65) but I had the car to do it with. I stayed closer to home at local dance clubs like the What's It in San Jose (and one or two others I can't remember the names of) until turning 18. There were other clubs I visited in San Francisco as well. One of the groups playing there that I attended was Hall and Oates. The Doobies are another local band that I caught up with to include Country Joe and the Fish and Fats Domino. They played at the San Jose Civic Auditorium and at the Santa Clara County Fair Grounds and other local venues and then there were the Love-Ins at the various stadiums that had some cool hippy bands. Even though there were some big legendary bands playing at the Fillmore if you look them up like Big Brother, The Dead, Jefferson Airplane, etc., there were nights when lesser knowns like the Seeds that I told you about were playing there. The only song they were famous for was You're Pushing Too Hard. The two legendary bands for my trips were Santana and CCR...and I would still drive 50 miles to see them if Fogerty or Carlos should come to town here in Sacramento...CCR also played at one of our local High Schools which was only 4 miles away. That was right around 68 before making The Trip (One of my favorite Donovan songs) to The City...I also caught up with Donovan in '69 in Vancouver Canada with my Buddy in his 58 Chevy...I wouldn't say Donovan was legendary for most people at the time, but he was for me. Take care, Larryz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whitefang Posted September 19, 2016 Author Share Posted September 19, 2016 Me too, man! But never got a chance to catch any show of his. Yeah, I like those "I saw them when" stories. Like how many of us always caught BOB SEGER at those Aquinas high school dances every Saturday in the summer od '68 (LONG before anyone outside the "tri-state" area(usually Mich, Ohio and Indy) ever heard of him. ALICE COOPER too!(same year) Some of my buddies at the time didn't CARE for Alice much, thinking, "This tranny's NEVER gonna get ANYWHERE." Or seeing "regulars" THE JAMES GANG often at The Grande, not at the time knowing the guy who was tearing up that LP Goldtop was named JOE WALSH. Some of us(and not always) were sometimes successful in sneaking into The Checkmate on Livernois to see THE BLUES MAGOOS before they made it "big" with "(We Ain't Got) Nothing Yet". They were at The Checkmate so often many of us thought they were a local band! Whitefang I started out with NOTHING...and I still have most of it left! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larryz Posted September 19, 2016 Share Posted September 19, 2016 <---The Trip...some Hippy Rap for you with a touch of Dylan LOL! My favorite Donovan album was Sunshine Superman. There was some real cool backup music on that album. So, when I went to see him live in Vancouver, I expected to see an orchestra or full band backing him up. He just came out alone and sat on the floor on a rug with a blue light shining down on him and did the whole concert. The place was huge and there was not very many people in the audience. So, me and my guitar playing 19 year old buddy walked up and leaned on the stage watching his every move. He was not a Donovan fan but the tickets were cheap so he went with me. He came away with nothing but great compliments on Donovan's guitar playing, singing, writing and performing. The guy was just phenomenal...neither of us could believe that the place was not packed! Take care, Larryz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whitefang Posted September 20, 2016 Author Share Posted September 20, 2016 That surprises me too. Personally, I found it hard to NOT like Donovan. Good voice, excellent songwriting, and I've heard, well liked and respected among his peers. He used to be somewhat of a "regular" on The Smothers Brothers TV variety show. He was the ONLY guy in the genre who could use the word "groovy" in a tune and NOT sound like a dork! One song he sang often on that show I can STILL hear in my head!--- "I love my shirt; I love my shirt; My shirt is particularly LOVE-ly." His juxtapositioning of the accent on certain word's syllables was a trick he often used to great effect and a sort of "signature" of many of his tunes. Like one example( from "Mellow Yellow")---"E--lec--trical Ba-NAN-a---" He did that sort of thing a LOT, and me and my buddies NEVER got tired of it! Whitefang I started out with NOTHING...and I still have most of it left! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larryz Posted September 20, 2016 Share Posted September 20, 2016 +1 The phrasing in his writing was great...his intros were also a signature like Sunshine Superman, Catch the Wind, Season of the Witch. Much like Van Morrison's Gloria, Brown Eyed Girl, Moondance, etc. I can never get those intros out of my head LOL! Take care, Larryz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whitefang Posted September 22, 2016 Author Share Posted September 22, 2016 You forgot "First There Is A Mountain" and "Hurdy Gurdy Man" Oh, and "Colours". And +1 on VAN'S intros! Whitefang I started out with NOTHING...and I still have most of it left! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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