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| A 1978 Tom Gray photo of the Boarding House at 960 Bush Street in San Francisco, on Lower Nob Hill. The club had moved upstairs from the basement in late 1972 (although the address had remained the same). |
The Boarding House, at 960 Bush Street, remains one of the most fondly remembered San Francisco rock clubs of the 1970s. The intimate, bowl-shaped room, seating just over 300, was the site of many great shows. In the mid-70s, when record company support was at its peak, the Boarding House was the prime location for booking acts on the rise. The club only barely broke even, but record company bookings were more about finding a club that appealed to writers and tastemakers, in order create some buzz.
Jerry Garcia, Neil Young and others played memorable shows at The Boarding House. The Tubes played two weeks there in the Summer of 1975, ensuring that their soon-to-be-released debut album got maximum attention. Comedians like Steve Martin would play the club just as they were approaching stardom. Every month would feature acts with new albums, rising stars with some real (if sometimes manufactured) buzz and constant attention from reviewers in the San Francisco daily papers.
Yet for all the Boarding House's permanent enshrinement in memories of the 1970s in San Francisco music, its beginnings were modest. Initially it seemed like a minor island in a sea of clubs. It took a couple of years for the Boarding House to find its footing. Fortunately, however, the music industry evolved in a variety of ways during just those years that allowed the Boarding House to become a memorable booking for performers on the rise. Bay Area rock fans of a certain age may recall the Boarding House, or may have seen photos. In fact, however, those recollections do not apply. Although the Boarding House was always at 960 Bush Street, initially the club was in the basement, rather than the theatrical bowl of later years.
In earlier posts, I looked at the origin of the Boarding House, as a forgotten Northern outpost of Doug Weston's legendary Troubadour club in West Hollywood back in 1970. I also looked into the first year of The Boarding House, when it opened in March 1971. Initially, the club had been a sort of salon for local. acoustic performers and singer/songwriters. By the end of 1971, however, record companies had discovered the Boarding House, and the club became a regular stop for songwriters promoting their newest albums.
This post will look on performers at The Boarding House from January through June 1972. The record industry was changing dramatically, and the Boarding House was more important than ever. Yet the club was small and had a hard time making a profit. Periodically the club would put on shows at the somewhat larger Boarding House Theater, just upstairs, in a harbinger of things to come. If anyone has additional information, corrections, insights or useful speculation, please put them in the Comments.
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| A 1971 Tom Gray photo of the Boarding House Theater and the Boarding House, at 960 Bush Street. The nightclub entrance was on the lower right (the staircase under the awning that says "960'). The Boarding House Theater was the larger space that would become the nightclub in late 1972. |
The Boarding House, 960 Bush Street, San Francisco: State Of Play, January 1972
The Boarding House was in the basement of 960 Bush Street, a four-story building that dated back to the early 20th century. At various times it had hosted a wide variety of restaurants and theaters, and the upper floors included apartments. In October, 1963, recording legend Bill Putnam had opened Coast Recorders at the site of the former Bush Street Theater, on the second floor, so it had a great sound. Mostly jingles were recorded there, but some infamous 60s rock bands snuck in, too. The young engineer at Coast, who took care of the longer-haired clients, was one Dan Healy, later famous as the Grateful Dead's soundman and engineering wizard. But Coast Recorders had moved out by the end of 1967.
Doug Weston, the proprietor of West Hollywood's Troubadour club, had purchased 960 Bush Street in 1970. The Troubadour had originally been a folk club, but it had become an epicenter of the Los Angeles music scene as "singer/songwriters" became the proverbial Next Big Thing. James Taylor, Carole King, Cat Stevens and Elton John all busted open at the Troubadour, so every record company wanted their act to play the club. Weston wanted to expand his empire. His plan for 960 Bush Street was not only that it would be a Northern outpost of the Troubadour, but that it would have a TV production studio and a restaurant. The plan was ambitious but shrewd.
Unfortunately, the San Francisco Troubadour was a disaster. I discussed its failings at some length in another post: 960 Bush was on Lower Nob Hill, between Union Square and Chinatown, about eight blocks from downtown, it got no foot traffic, the restaurant ideas were a decade early, and provincial San Francisco wasn't ready for a high status record company hangout yet. The club closed on October 30, 1970, after just 4 months. On March 26, 1971, however, Troubadour house manager David Allen re-opened the venue as The Boarding House, having leased the premises from Weston.
The Boarding House was on the bottom floor of 960 Bush Street. There were long tables, and dinner was served prior to each show, on a Prix Fixe menu. Dinner patrons got preferred seating for the show. This arrangement was common for suburban theaters (usually known as "Dinner Theater"), or Las Vegas, but fairly unprecedented for a rock club. The Boarding House downstairs room held just over 200 patrons. It wasn't inherently limited to solo and acoustic acts, but the economics of the room favored solo artists or small combos, not larger bands with extensive equipment. The Boarding House served beer and wine, but it did not have a full liquor license, which would haunt its finances.
On the second floor of 960 Bush, as part of Weston's renovation, the former Coast Recorders had reverted to a theater. I believe it was also designed as a television production studio, as well. The theater was a deep bowl with great sightlines, and seated up to 350. Various theater presentations were booked into the Boarding House theater in the early 1970s. I do not know what the economics of the theater were; I think backers of various shows took the financial risk, rather than the Boarding House itself. Of course, the Boarding House probably hoped to sell some dinners and drinks to theater patrons. It was the second floor theater that would become famous to patrons as "The Boarding House" starting later in 1972, but early in the year there was still a distinction between the downstairs club and the upstairs Boarding House Theater.
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| David Allen, proprietor of The Boarding House, probably around 1980 (photo: Mike Maloney, SF Chronicle) | |
The Boarding House had opened on Friday, March 26, 1971. An article in the March 24 San Francisco Examiner had described it as "an acoustic music salon." The club served dinner, with one seating each night, at a cost of $3.25. The Boarding House was run by David Allen, who had been Doug Weston's house manager when the venue had been the Northern outpost of The Troubadour. Prior to that, Allen had been the house manager for the legendary '60s nightclub The hungry i. So Allen was well-connected to the local press and the ways of San Francisco.
Boarding House Performers List, January-June 1972
January 2-8, 1972 Boarding House Theater, San Francisco, CA: "Native Son" (Sunday-Saturday)
1972 began with Terrai Productions presenting Richard Wright's "Native Son" in the upstairs Boarding House Theater all week, adapted from his 1940 novel. The show had probably already been running at least the previous week. I know little about theater, and won't comment about productions here, as I'm only including them to clarify the weekly schedule.
January 7-9, 1972 Boarding House, San Francisco, CA: Ramblin' Jack Elliott/Estrella & Vaclav (Friday-Sunday)
Ramblin' Jack Elliott lived in the North Bay Area, somewhere, and had been a folk singing legend for many years. He hadn't released an album since 1970, however (Bull Durham Sacks and Railroad Tracks on Reprise). Nonetheless he was still a good weekend draw. Examiner critic Phil Elwood gave Ramblin' Jack's opening night a favorable review (in the January 8 paper), saying he drew "appropriately large and enthusiastic crowds." Elwood said the Saturday night show was sold out, too.
Elwood was the music critic for the Examiner, and while not as high profile as the Chronicle's Ralph Gleason, he was an important figure on the local scene. Elwood genuinely enjoyed going out at night to see music. While he wasn't always precise about some details, his ears were absolutely golden across all styles of music--jazz, folk, rock, blues or anything. If he said someone was good, you could count on it. Elwood reviewed an early night for almost all of the Boarding House's week-long bookings, and his say-so went a long way to bringing in crowds.
Elwood mentioned that the openers Estrella & Vaclav were a brother-and-sister folk duo from a Brazilian circus family, and he praised them as well.
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| In mid-1972, Rosalie Sorrels would released Travelin' Lady. It was released by Sire and distributed by Polydor, and mostly recorded in San Francisco, probably around the time of her Boarding House gigs. |
January 11-16, 1972 Boarding House, San Francisco, CA: Rosalie Sorrels/Fletcher Brothers (Tuesday-Sunday)
Rosalie Sorrels had begun as a folksinger in the Mountain West in the early 1960s. By 1966 she had performed at the Newport Folk Festival, where Elwood had reviewed her. Older than some other singers (born 1933), she had put out numerous albums on a variety of labels. According to Elwood's review the next week (see below), she was recording for Polydor at this time. Sorrels wrote her own material as well as covering songs by other writers, and was accompanied by guitarist Ray Bieri. Sorrels was established enough to headline two full weeks at the Boarding House.
The Fletcher Brothers were a local folk act, but I don't know anything about them.
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| The Spencer Davis solo album Mousetrap would be released later in 1972 by United Artists, produced by pedal steel guitar legend Sneaky Pete Kleinow |
January 12-13, 1972 Boarding House Theater, San Francisco, CA: Spencer Davis/Ken Bloom (Wednesday-Thursday)
During January, the Boarding House had musical performances both upstairs and downstairs almost every week. Both upstairs and downstairs bookings always had two shows, usually 8:30 and 10:30pm. Patrons could sit through both shows if seats were available, in return for buying another beer or two.
On Wednesday and Thursday nights, the Theater headliner was Spencer Davis. Davis was actually a kind of big name, ever since the days when his Spencer Davis Group had put out "Keep On Running" (#1 UK '65), "Gimme Some Lovin'" (#9 US '66) and "I'm A Man" (#10 US '67), among others. Of course, lead singer Steve Winwood had moved on to Traffic, and although subsequent Spencer Davis Group records weren't bad, they couldn't compete.
In 1971, Spencer Davis had moved to Southern California. He had put out a sort of singer/songwriter duet album with Peter Jameson, and his 1972 solo album Mousetrap would be produced by Sneaky Pete Kleinow. Presumably this show was a solo gig. Opener Ken Bloom is unknown to me.
January 14-15, 1972 Boarding House Theater, San Francisco, CA: Van Morrison/Ken Bloom (Friday-Saturday) 8:30 &10:30 pm
This weekend, the Boarding House Theater featured four shows by Van Morrison. Morrison had relocated to Marin County in mid-71, and his hit album Tupelo Honey had been released in October of 1971. Van followed the local pattern of people like Mike Bloomfield and Jerry Garcia, casually appearing in clubs rather than high profile concerts. The hugely talented Morrison was not always a consistent performer, sometimes turning in strangely moody performances, and sometimes burning down the house.
Elwood reviewed the Friday night show, and reported that Van played a sensational show. He had a crack band: Elwood singled out Jack Schroer and Boots Hughston on horns, Bill Church on bass and Mark Naftalin on piano. Not only was the Theater larger than the downstairs room (350 v 200), but Van's full band would likely have not fit downstairs either. It was shows like these that made the Boarding House memorable for so many Bay Area rock fans.
The next week, Rosalie Sorrels continued to play downstairs. For the second week, she was joined by Jim Post, a singer/songwriter from Chicago. Back in '68 Post had scored a pop hit with the song "Reach Out In The Darkness," in a duo with his then-wife called Friend And Lover (you'd recognize it if you heard it). Post had started to record for Fantasy, part of the circle of Chicago songwriters like John Prine and Steve Goodman.
Phil Elwood reviewed the Wednesday night show. Apparently Rosalie Sorrels cooked dinner for 150 people. Elwood also noted that the Wednesday night early show was broadcast on KMPX-fm. In the first part of the year, the Wednesday early show was broadcast on KMPX (106.9). Although KMPX had literally invented free-form rock radio back in Spring '67, after an infamous strike the entire staff had moved to KSAN (94.9), and KSAN ruled as the dominant rock station.
KMPX broadcast from the Boarding House until they would change formats in March. The shows were often listed in the "Radio Highlights" page in local paper. I'm only aware of one KMPX broadcast tape that survived (Billy Joel, from January 26, below). KSAN was the dominant rock station in the Bay Area, and they had made a point of having live concert broadcasts, mostly from the Pacific High Recorders (Alembic) studio. It's not surprising to see KMPX attempting to compete on that ground. Besides the Wednesday night Boarding House broadcast, KMPX also had a Thursday night show from another club, the North Beach Revival (at 1024 Kearny).
Since Boarding House acts usually played all week, between a Wednesday broadcast and an Elwood review, typically published on Thursday, patrons could decide whether to catch the show over the weekend. This was a distinctly different booking policy than other rock clubs in the Bay Area, but also a throwback to the jazz and cabaret era of the past.
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| Sophomoric, the second album by Berkeley comedy duo Congress Of Wonders, released by Fantasy Records in 1972 |
January 19-20, 1972 Boarding House Theater, San Francisco, CA: Congress Of Wonders/Kimberly/Ric Myers (Wednesday-Thursday)
Upstairs at the Theater the mid-week headliner was the Berkeley comedy duo Congress Of Wonders. 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” (now ‘Performance Art’). The group had 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 Records (Revolting in 1970 and 1972's Sophomoric). Their pieces “Pigeon Park” and “Star Trip”, although charmingly dated now, were staples of San Francisco underground radio at the time.
Opening act Kimberly was a soft-rock group associated with Santana's management. Rik Myers was a solo folk singer and songwriter, but I don't know anything else about him.
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| Photos of Yogi Phlegm (aka The Sons) at The Church in San Anselmo, a studio and rehearsal hall. (Clockwise from lower L: Dave Schallock, Terry Haggerty, Bill Vitt, Bill Champlin, Geoff Palmer--photo via Bruno Ceriotti) |
January 21-22, 1972 Boarding House Theater, San Francisco, CA: Yogi Phlegm/Alice Stuart/Ric Myers (Friday-Saturday)
Weekend headliners Yogi Phlegm were actually Marin's Sons Of Champlin. The Sons had sort of broken up in 1970, although they had completed their final album for Capitol (1971's Follow Your Heart). The band either believed it no longer had the rights to their name, or else that they needed a name change. In any case, the stripped-down Sons focused on funky, fusion-type jamming, and started playing outside of Marin as Yogi Phlegm. The name was a joke about gurus, but no one got it. Most promoters just called them Yogi Phlegm--Formerly The Sons, and Bill Graham hated the name so much that he just booked them as The Sons Of Champlin.
In fact, the Yogi Phlegm-era Sons was a great band. Most of their new live material would end up on their 1973 Columbia album Welcome To The Dance. Bill Champlin was the lead singer, as always, and also played organ and guitar. The great Terry Haggerty brought the heat as lead guitarist, Geoff Palmer played keyboards and vibes, Dave Schallock played bass and Bill Vitt played drums. A great live band, with the tapes to back it up, but The Sons got no honor on their home territory.
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| Believin', by Alice Stuart & Snake, released on Fantasy Records in January 1972 |
Alice Stuart had moved to the Bay Area from Seattle about 1964. She played excellent finger-style blues guitar. In 1970, like so many others, Stuart finally "went electric" and formed the trio Snake. She shared vocals with drummer Bob Jones, and bassist Karl Sevareid rounded out the trio. Fantasy Records had just released their album Believin' as Alice Stuart & Snake.
January 25-29, 1972 Boarding House, San Francisco, CA: Taj Mahal/Billy Joel (Tueday-Saturday)
Taj Mahal had already headlined the Boarding House a number of times, most recently in August '71. Taj Mahal (b. Henry Saint Clair Fredericks in 1942) had been raised in a musical family in Springfield, MA. He played in various musical ensembles in high school and in college (at U.Mass). By 1964 he had moved to the West Coast, and he formed a pioneering R&B combo called The Rising Sons, with Ry Cooder on lead guitar (a cd of their recordings was finally released in 1992). By early 1968, Taj had already signed and recorded his debut album with Columbia, with both Cooder and Jesse Ed Davis on guitars, although it would not be released until later in the year.
Taj Mahal's equally excellent second album, The Natch'l Blues, still with Davis but without Ry Cooder, had been released later in '68. In 1969, Taj Mahal would release his memorable Columbia electric/acoustic double album Giant Step/De Ole Folks At Home. Taj Mahal's initial sound had been an electrified version of country blues, rhythmically a little different from the Chicago sound, but just as rocking. De Old Folks At Home explored a different, quieter approach to the blues.
In late 1971, Taj Mahal had released his fifth album, another double-lp, The Real Thing. While he was too inventive to be pigeon-holed as a "solo blues performer," Taj Mahal's newer sounds were more intimate. The Boarding House was a better venue for that than third on the bill at Winterland.
Opening act Billy Joel was touring in support of his debut Columbia album, Cold Spring Harbor. It had been released in Fall '71, and Joel was always unhappy with the way the album had been produced and mastered. The album was not a success, although some of the songs (like "Captain Jack") would become well-known later. Joel was touring around the country with Al Hertzberg on guitar, Larry Russell on bass and Rhys Clark on drums.
Remarkably, we have the air-check from the KMPX broadcast of Billy Joel on Wednesday, January 26, opening the early show for Taj Mahal. Joel plays 28 minutes. He is very chatty, and at one point he says he is there to play "mild, pleasant eating music, so when Taj Mahal comes on there will no sound but burping." His wry comment tells us how the downstairs Boarding House was laid out like dinner theater, with patrons eating throughout the opening act. Taj Mahal was very likely broadcast as well, but no tape survives.
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| Doug McKechnie and his Moog Synthesizer, ca 1968 |
January 26, 1972 Boarding House Theater, San Francisco, CA: Doug McKechnie (Wednesday)
Wednesday upstairs was Doug McKechnie, another only-in-San Francisco attraction. Earlier, McKechnie had played a week at the downstairs Boarding House (June 8-13 '71), and a bit around town, so he was kind of known locally.
Doug McKechnie's history was unique in so many ways. Around about 1968, McKechnie had lived in a warehouse type building on 759 Harrison (between 3rd and 4th Streets--for reference, 759 Harrison is now across from Whole Foods). Avalon Ballroom soundman and partner Bob Cohen lived in the building, and Blue Cheer (and Dan Hicks and The Hot Licks) practiced upstairs. One day, McKechnie's roommate Bruce Hatch acquired a Moog Synthesizer, and the instrument arrived in boxes, awaiting assembly. At the time, a synthesizer was like a musical unicorn, only slightly more real than a myth. Hatch had the technical ability to assemble the machinery, but he was basically tone-deaf. So McKechnie focused on actually making music on the Moog.
McKechnie and Hatch referred to their enterprise as Radical Sound Labs. Word got around--McKechnie helped the Grateful Dead record the strange outtake "What's Become Of The Baby" on the 1969 Aoxomoxoa sessions in San Mateo (his memories are, uh, fuzzy). Thanks to the Dead, McKechnie and his Moog--the size of a VW Bus--can be seen in the Gimme Shelter movie, providing peculiar music on a gigantic sound system for the anxious masses. Sometimes McKechnie opened for rock shows at the Family Dog, using the name "SF Rad Labs."
Unlike the very few other synthesizer artists, McKechnie was not associated with an academic endeavor, he wasn't trying to sell an instrument, and he didn't have any record company affiliation. Neither of those things were bad, by the way--it's just that the thoroughly hippie underground McKechnie could do what we wanted. Now, probably, what he played at the Boarding House hasn't held up that well over the years, But at the time, a Moog was a Unicorn. If you saw at a Unicorn at a farm, you wouldn't say "it's not a good plow horse, though." So this must have been pretty far out to listeners at the time, even if it would sound less so to us now (for a whiff of what this probably sounded like, here's a 1968 recording).
February 1-5, 1972 Boarding House, San Francisco, CA: Jim Kweskin/Lambert & Nuttycombe (Tuesday-Saturday)
Jim Kweskin had been an important figure in the "folk revival," as his Jug Band all but single-handedly brought back hitherto obscure jug band music. That group, who had first recorded for Vanguard, had espoused a casual style unconcerned with either pop sensibility or academic purity. The Jim Kweskin Jug Band had been a huge influence on numerous young musicians, not the least of them Jerry Garcia and Bob Weir. The Jug Band hadn't managed to make the transition to electricity as well, but Kweskin himself had some residual popularity.
By 1971, Kweskin had become somewhat of a solo act. His most recent album was Jim Kweskin's America, on Reprise, and he toured as a solo act. Kweskin had headlined the Boarding House in the week of October 12-17, 1971, and it must have gone well enough for him to come back.
Dennis Lambert & Craig Nuttycombe were an acoustic songwriting duo from Los Angeles, but their 1970 debut on A&M Records had been recorded by the Wally Heider mobile unit at their house in Sausalito. A&M had dropped them, ultimately, but they stuck together. They would release a second album (As You Will) on 20th Century Records in 1973.
The Examiner listings note "Live From The Boarding House" on Friday, February 4, so presumably the early sets by Lambert & Nuttycombe as well as Kweskin were broadcast on KMPX.
Robert Shields was a mime from Los Angeles. He had studied with Marcel Marceau, who had spotted him in LA. Shields had become famous performing in the street in San Francisco's Union Square, and had only recently "moved indoors." He would go on to high profile success a few years later as Shields & Yarnell (with his then-wife Lorene Yarnell). Orsini The Magician is unknown to me.
Terry Dolan was a singer/songwriter from Washington, DC, who had moved to the Bay Area around 1969. He was well-known around Marin, and played and recorded with many musicians. He never really made it over the top, but he was familiar to a lot of Bay Area club-goers in later years.
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| Cross Between, the third album by Lamb, released on Warner Brothers in late 1971 |
February 8-12, 1972 Boarding House, San Francisco, CA: Lamb/Jelly Roll Turner (Tuesday-Saturday)
Lamb was led by singer/songwriter Barbara Mauritz. Initially, they featured Mauritz and guitarist Bob Swanson, and the songs were somewhat folkie and introspective. Lamb's first (1970) and second album (1971) had been released on Bill Graham's Fillmore label, distributed by Columbia. Lamb's newest album was Cross Between, on Warner Brothers. Phil Elwood reviewed the February 8 Lamb show (on February 9), and enthusiastically described how Lamb had become a rocking quartet. Keyboardist Tom Salisbury was the primary soloist.
Jelly Roll Turner is unknown to me.
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| Sylvester (James) and The Hot Band would release their debut album on Blue Thumb Records in 1973. The music was modern but mainstream Soul. Sylvester's style, however, was something else for '73. |
February 10-13, 1972 Boarding House Theater, San Francisco, CA: Sylvester and His Hot Band with The Pointer Sisters/Claytonia Gospel Singers/Stephen Arnold's "Liberation of Manic Mechanique" (Thursday-Sunday)
The upstairs headliner was Sylvester and His Hot Band. Sylvester was a powerful R&B singer, in a contemporary vein, but with a gay sensibility and a very high-pitched vocal style. A handsome black man, Sylvester appeared on stage in thrift-store sequined dresses and heavy makeup. Sylvester had a following in gay clubs in San Francisco at the time. Performers could make good money playing gay clubs in SF (Bette Midler was doing so at the time) but they needed to be heard in "regular" nightclubs to get signed. While much of Sylvester's audience was probably gay men who lived in the city, by playing the Boarding House Theater, "regular" fans could get a chance to see him (read that how you like--it was 1972).
Sylvester (Sylvester James Jr), had a background in church music. He had moved to San Francisco in 1970 and joined an infamous San Francisco performance troupe called The Cockettes. James had gone with the Cockettes to New York City, but ultimately returned to SF. Sylvester and The Hot Band played what would be called "Heavy Soul," although Sylvester's stage appearance was not mainstream. Sylvester would go on to release two albums on Blue Thumb in 1973 and '74, and then he would break up The Hot Band. Sylvester went on to have a successful disco recording career in the late 70s.
For this weekend, Sylvester was joined by The Pointer Sisters, then mostly known as backup singers (for Elvin Bishop and others). At this time, the Oakland sisters were a trio (June, Bonnie and Anita), and had only released a few unsuccessful singles on Atlantic Records. Their big success would come when they became a quartet at the end of 1972 (when Ruth joined) and picked up by Blue Thumb Records.
The Claytonia Gospel Singers and the "Liberation of Manic Mechanique" are unknown to me.
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| Atlantic Records released Shanti's only album in 1971 |
February 15, 17-19 Boarding House, San Francisco, CA: Shanti/David Pomeranz (Tuesday, Thursday-Saturday)
The unique ensemble Shanti headlined the week, except for Wednesday, when Stoneground took their place (see below). Shanti was an Indian/rock 'fusion' band, who had released an album on Atlantic Records in 1971. Zakir Hussain, one of India's finest tabla players, had moved to Marin County in the late 1960s, and he began working with Mickey Hart. Hart and Hussain would later go on to work together in Diga Rhythm Band and many other projects. I did find a description of the band's album:
From San Francisco, this Californian-meets-India group played a very relaxed mystic blend of music, alternating instrumental cuts with vocal songs. Adding instruments such as sarod, dholak and tablas to their regular guitar/bass/drums line-up Shanti created an exotic, rootsy aura, never mind the spiritual lyrics. Ustad Zakir Hussein in one of his earliest recordings.
The lineup was:
Steve Haehl--guitars, lead vocals
Neil Seidel--guitar
Aashish Khan--Sarod
Pranesh Khan--tabla
Zakir Hussain--tabla
Steve Leach--vocals, bass guitar
Frank Lupica--drums
Although I know very little about Indian music, I know that Aashish Khan is a widely esteemed master of the Sarod. Thus the discovery that on the Shanti record he is "featured playing the acoustic Sarod sometimes through a fender guitar amplifier with vibrato effect" is pretty surprising. I suspect this is a little like finding out that Yehudi Menuhin played electric violin on a Hot Tuna album.
Besides established Indian musicians, in retrospect the Americans had some credits as well. Guitarist Neil Siedel, though not a name known to much of the public, had a substantial career in soundtrack work. Drummer Frank Lupica, who had been in '60s bands like Travel Agency and Loading Zone (as Frank Davis), had invented a unique percussion instrument called The Cosmic Beam. The Cosmic Beam was adopted and revised by Dan Healy and Mickey Hart as The Beam, a significant part of Grateful Dead concert percussion performances (aka "Rhythm Devils") for many years. The most unlikely member of Shanti was bassist Steve Leach, a veteran musician who many decades later would become well-known in the UK as Seasick Steve.
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| February 15 Examiner listing notes KMPX live from the Boarding House with Shanti |
Atlantic Records probably thought they were on to something, and supported Shanti through most of 1972. In August 1971, Atlantic had helped a finance a video of Shanti at Mickey Hart's ranch, and possibly a broadcast, but only traces have survived. Supposedly a second Shanti album was recorded, too, but in any case that wasn't released. Zakir Hussain and Mickey Hart went on to form the Diga Rhythm Band, who would release a 1976 album on Round Records.
For whatever reason, the KMPX Boarding House broadcast was Tuesday, instead of Wednesday. The fact that Shanti was broadcast was a sign that Atlantic was still supporting them. Over-the-air FM concert broadcasts were not really "free." On a commercial station, some entity had to pick up the lost ad revenue. In almost all cases, a band's record company would reimburse the radio station. In some instances, its possible that the record companies just bought additional ad time, or some such arrangement, but in any case, radio stations needed to be compensated.
Phil Elwood reviewed opening act David Pomeranz (in the February 17 Examiner), describing him as an intriguing 20-year old singer/songwriter who accompanied himself on piano and guitar.
February 16, 1972 Boarding House, San Francisco , CA: Stoneground/David Pomeranz (Wednesday)
For some reason, Shanti was replaced by Stoneground for Wednesday night only. Stoneground had been formed in 1970 to support KSAN founder Tom Donahue's ill-advised Medicine Ball Caravan movie, where a traveling hippie Woodstock would go from town to town. At the last minute, the Grateful Dead had backed out of the deal, although their crew and sound system did go on the tour. Stoneground, formed for the event, had taken their place.
By early 1972, Stoneground had released two records on Warner Brothers, including their most recent, the double-lp Family Album. Stoneground had five lead singers, and had a sort of gospel-rock sound with some country-ish overtones. Pianist Cory Lerios, later to form Pablo Cruise, was now the pianist.
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| Merry Clayton's second solo album was released on Ode Records in 1971 |
February 22-26, 1972 Boarding House, San Francisco, CA: Merry Clayton/Billy Roberts (Tuesday-Saturday)
Singer Merry Clayton had a background in R&B, and had been a RaeLette. Yet she was known to white rock fans for singing the great counter-vocal on the Rolling Stones "Gimme Shelter." Given her talents, Ode Records figured they could leverage her recognition into stardom. Her first album had been called Gimme Shelter, but her second album was just called Merry Clayton. While it had a soulful feel, it was oriented a little more towards white rock fans. Heavyweight names like Billy Preston and Carole King had played on the album. Clayton was booked at a lot of the new white rock clubs in major cities, too.
Phil Elwood gave the Wednesday show (February 23) an enthusiastic review in the next day's Examiner. He was sure that she was a forthcoming star. While he was wrong on that, Elwood's ears were gold, so she surely must have played a great set. He mentioned that her show was nearly sold out, promising for a weeknight. Elwood also name-checked her band, which included Tony Drake on guitar, George Semper on keyboards and Tony Riley on drums. Clayton's husband, Curtis Amy, also joined in on tenor sax for a few numbers.
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| February 23, 1972 Examiner "Live From The Boarding House: Merry Clayton/Billy Roberts." Historians will note the NHL game (Oakland's Golden Seals v Bruins) broadcast on KPFA. |
Opening act Billy Roberts was a local singer who'd been around for a while. He had written a number of good songs, most famously "Hey Joe," even though it had been credited to others. Ode Records would have provided the support for the KMPX broadcast, but Roberts didn't (to my knowledge) have a label. That suggests that whichever label was underwriting the broadcast accepted the opening act as part of the package.
February 25, 1972 Boarding House Theater, San Francisco, CA: "The Tempest" (Friday) opens
Shakespeare's "The Tempest" opened on February 25. Per the Examiner, it was originally scheduled at Project Artaud. I'm not sure how long it's run was, but no longer than a week.
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| Shebaba, by Bola Sete, was released on Fantasy Records in 1971 |
February 29-March 5, 1972 Boarding House, San Francisco, CA: Bola Sete/Stefan Grossman (Tuesday-Sunday)
Bola Sete (1923-1987, born Djalma de Andrade) was a Brazilian jazz guitarist who had been prominent in the '60s. Bola Sete (which means "Seven Ball"), after a substantial career in South America in the 1950s, had ended up playing at the Sheraton Hotel in San Francisco, where he captivated Dizzy Gillespie (it turned out that Gillespie's piano player, Argentinian Lalo Schifrin, had played with Bola Seta in Rio). Brazilian jazz was hot at the time, and Bola Sete then recorded and toured with both Gillespie and Vince Guaraldi. Guaraldi and Bola Sete had made some very popular albums for Fantasy Records in the mid-60s. After about 1968, however, Bola Sete had reduced his presence and largely stopped recording and touring, although he hadn't retired.
By 1971, Bola Sete lived in the North Bay Area, and while he didn't tour much, he did play Bay Area clubs. He had played the Boarding House the previous Summer (August 24-29). While he had released a sort of fusion-styled album on Fantasy Records in 1971 (Shebaba), he performed as a solo. According to an enthusiastic review by Phil Elwood (March 2), Bola Sete was only nominally a jazz player, as he played a wide variety of folk and Brazilian tunes, and even sang a little bit. Still, since Bola Sete was part of the KMPX live broadcast (on March 1), he perhaps got some support from Fantasy in any case.
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| Stefan Grossman's 1971 album Those Pleasant Days was released on the UK label Transatlantic Records. The album was recorded in Copehhagen and London, and included Richard Thompson on guitar. It would have been largely unavailable in the United States. |
Opener Stefan Grossman was a New York folk guitarist, well established since the early 60s but without much of a recording profile. Elwood was enthusiastic about Grossman, and praised his diverse guitar styles. At this time, Grossman lived in Rome and recorded for the London label Transatlantic Records, so he wasn't a known quantity in the States.
On Friday, March 3, at 3:10 pm, KMPX abruptly went off the air. The staff was taken by surprise. The station had been losing money, and the owners were instituting a format change. Management was afraid that the staff would have an on-air protest if the change were announced, so they simply took the station off the air. Early on Saturday morning (March 4) KMPX switched over to a retro Big Band format. Needless to say, KMPX was no longer broadcasting concerts live from the Boarding House on Wednesday nights.
March 3-4, 1972 Boarding House Theater, San Francisco, CA: "I Ain't No Whore" and "Vamboodoo" (Friday-Saturday) 8:30 & 10:30pm Black Light Explosion Theater
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| March 5, 1972 SF Chronicle Datebook listing |
March 5, 1972 Boarding House, San Francisco, CA: Sufi Choir (Sunday) 2 pm
The Sunday (March 5) Chronicle listing for the Sunday afternoon show says:
SUFI CHOIR--The spiritual, eclectic music of Sufi will be represented by the Sufi Choir, Chitrech Das, an East Indian Kathak Dancer and accompanied by Zakir Hussain on the Tablas, today and next Sunday [March 12], 2 pm.
Sufism is a mystical movement within Islam. I won't shame myself by trying to summarize it. The Sufi Choir was a Marin group of mostly hippies who performed music and dance to celebrate Sufism. Their music was ethereal and mostly vocal, with some mixtures of folk-rock and North Indian music and other styles. They put out six albums in the 1970s, self-released, and information can be found on their website.
The peculiar rock history twist to the Sufi Choir was their numerous links to the Grateful Dead. On March 24, 1971, the Sufi Choir had opened a Winterland benefit for the Dead. After performing several pieces on their own, the Choir was joined by most of the band (Garcia, Weir, Lesh and Kreutzmann). This isn't a rumor--friend-of-the-blog CryptDev was an eyewitness and wrote about it in detail (as did Phil Elwood).
The Sufi Choir was directed by one Allaudin (b. 1939), who, as Bill Mathieu, had been a pianist and arranger for Stan Kenton, Duke Ellington, Second City and San Francisco's The Committee. The nature of the choir was that it had a large membership. One member, known as Vasistha (and previously as Phil Davenport), had been the Grateful Dead's transcriptionist, providing the written chords and keys required to publish their most famous songs. Davenport was responsible for producing the music for the first Grateful Dead songbooks (for Workingman's Dead and American Beauty).
Glancing at the extensive but disparate material for the Sufi Choir, we can see Grateful Dead connections all over. Zakir Hussain, for example, was one of Mickey Hart's best friends, with whom he lead the Diga Rhythm Band. On the first Sufi Choir album, self-released in 1973, future Grateful Dead sound engineer John Cutler is listed as equipment manager. Jefferson Starship producer Phil Sawyer engineered the Choir album. The Sufi Choir was never going to be a hit act, but they were hooked into the Marin rock universe (Jesse Jarnow looked into the Sufi Choir's connection to the Grateful Dead at some length for the Grateful Dead podcast).
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| George Carlin's monumental Class Clown album was recorded in Santa Monica in May 1972. He would certainly have been doing material from it (likely including the infamous "Seven Words" routine) at the Boarding House in March. |
March 7-12, 1972 Boarding House, San Francisco, CA: George Carlin/Burton & Tuncino (Tuesday-Sunday)
Up until this time, the Boarding House had not booked many comedians. The one consistent exception had been Berkeley's Congress Of Wonders. But the Congress was definitely "underground," having played the Avalon and all the hippie places in Berkeley, and regularly getting album tracks like "Pigeon Park" played on KSAN. Congress Of Wonders was part of a thread of comedy ensembles who used modern recording techniques to create integrated, album-oriented pieces that transcended nightclub comedians on television.
The primary source for happening comedians in the 1950s and 60s, however, had been the hungry i club in San Francisco, and Boarding House proprietor David Allen had been the house manager. So it wasn't like Allen didn't know how it worked, or didn't know how to recognize talent. Rather, Allen had avoided hiring comedians. As the economics of the rock market changed, however, and hippie audiences got older, so did the place of comedians. George Carlin's week-long appearance at the Boarding House, right before he took off as a national phenomenon, was the harbinger of the club's role in exposing cool new comic acts to the Bay Area and the country.
George Carlin had been friendly with Lenny Bruce in the early 60s, so he wasn't faking being hip. But in the mid-60s, Carlin had done the straight comedy thing, wearing a suit and appearing on the Johnny Carson show and the like, and he had been very successful. At the end of the decade, however, he grew his hair long and gave up some of the overt showbiz, at some cost to his bookings. In the early 70s, he went from clever-but-banal observations about Hollywood to writing some biting satire about attitudes towards dope and hippies. He started to get booked in smaller, underground clubs like the Boarding House, taking his act straight to hippies, who were ready for a laugh. Lenny Bruce had been too early, but George Carlin was right on time.
In the '60s and '70s, comedians were best known for their albums, believe it or not. Bill Cosby and Bob Newhart, for example, sold hundreds of thousands of albums. In January '72, Carlin had released his FM & AM album, half "underground" (FM) and half "mainstream." He was straddling both worlds. Ensembles like Firesign Theater or Cheech & Chong (whose debut had been released in August '71) had scored in the hippie world, but no one had crossed over to both hip and mainstream.
Carlin played the Boarding House during the period when he would have been working up the material that would be released on his next album Class Clown. Class Clown, recorded on May 27 in Santa Monica, would be released in September 1972. It included Carlin's signature routine, "Seven Words You Can't Say On Television." It is impossible to explain the impact that the routine had. It was played in dorms, at parties, on underground FM stations (late at night), and it was done by a guy who had been a regular on Johnny Carson. Carlin was a profoundly influential figure, and he did a week at the Boarding House right before he busted out.
Phil Elwood reviewed Carlin (March 9), and interestingly he gave him a negative rating, thinking Carlin was too anxious to shock people instead of making good comedy. This was a rare instance where the ultra-hip Elwood mis-read the audience. Elwood had no doubt heard Lenny Bruce and late night jazz comedians a decade earlier, but the rest of America hadn't. They were ready now.
Opening act Burton & Tuncino, per Elwood, were an acoustic singing duo.
March 12, 1972 Boarding House, San Francisco, CA: Sufi Choir (Sunday) 2 pm
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| Tim Buckley's album Starsailor had been released on his manager Herb Cohen's label Straight Records back in 1970. |
March 14-19, 1972 Boarding House, San Francisco, CA: Tim Buckley/Lindisfarne (Tuesday-Sunday)
The headline act for this week was singer Tim Buckley. Buckley had a flexible, unique voice and played in a much jazzier style than most folksingers. He wrote his own material, and it wasn't much like anyone else. He was playing around Orange County in 1966 when he was introduced to Mothers Of Invention manager Herb Cohen, who got Buckley signed to Elektra. By 1972, Buckley had released six albums, all on Elektra, except the last one, Starsailor (released November '70) which was on Straight Records, the Warners imprint for Cohen and Zappa.
Tim Buckley (1947-75) never sold very many records, but he had a cult following. He would die of an overdose in 1975. His music is an acquired taste. Buckley has gotten better and more enthusiastic reviews than practically any other artist, and some may find that actually hearing his music doesn't live up to his retrospective adulation.
Phil Elwood gave positive but somewhat mystified approval to Buckley (reviewed March 17). Buckley was just accompanied by a percussionist. Elwood called him a "folk-rock minstrel poet." He said that Buckley's "peculiar [vocal] intonations sound like a Martin Denny aviary of tropical bird calls." Still, Elwood found Buckley unique and creative.
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| Fog On The Tyne by Lindisfarne, a huge hit in the UK (on Charisma Records), was released on Elektra in the States in 1972. |
The opening act was the English group Lindisfarne, on their first American tour. We forget now that in the 1970s, the US and UK were distinctly different record markets. Few Americans then or now recognize the band Lindisfarne, a folk-rock group from Newcastle. Yet at the time of this tour, Lindisfarne had the #1 album in the UK (Fog On The Tyne) and a top 5 UK single ("Meet Me On The Corner"). Yet they received no airplay in the States, and never caught on. The band was somewhat acoustic with three-part harmonies, but with an American folk-rock sound rather than rooted in English folk (compared to, say, Fairport Convention). Elwood found Lindisfarne pleasing, but mentioned that their album was poorly distributed.
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| Aereo-Plain, John Hartford's last album on Warner Brothers, released in 1971. It was progressive bluegrass, with nothing on it like "Gentle On My Mind." |
March 21-26, 1972 Boarding House, San Francisco, CA: John Hartford/Bonnie Raitt (Tuesday-Sunday)
John Hartford and Bonnie Raitt were both on Warner Brothers. As the record companies discovered the Boarding House, such bookings would become common. Companies would use a better known act--in this case John Hartford--to provide exposure for someone up and coming. At this time, Bonnie Raitt had only released her debut album on Warners, back in September 1971, and she was an unknown quantity on the West Coast.
John Hartford had one of the most peculiar career arcs in American popular music. Hartford (1937-2001) had been born in New York City but grew up in Nashville. He had heard the Grand Ole Opry, and even after he had graduated from college in 1960 (Washington U. in St. Louis), he ended up in Nashville in 1965. His modest 1967 hit "Gentle On My Mind" had been covered by Glen Campbell. Campbell's version would sell 600,000 copies, and there were numerous other versions, by Elvis Presley and others. Campbell hosted a CBS-TV variety show (The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour) from 1969-72, and "Gentle On My Mind' was regularly featured. Hartford appeared on the Campbell show, so he was widely known to the pop audience.
The popularity of "Gentle On My Mind" allowed Hartford to play the music he wanted to play, but it wasn't really what Warner Brothers had in mind. His final album for Warners was the progressive bluegrass album Aereo-Plain, released in September 1971. It was somewhat in the mode of Jerry Garcia's Old And In The Way, long-haired hippie bluegrass that emphasized high quality picking (indeed Hartford was part of Old And In The Way for a few gigs in 1973). Still, Hartford moved on to smaller labels after this, since his hit single ensured that he was unbound. Hartford went on to a stellar musical career on a variety of labels. One of his last releases were songs on the O Brother Where Art Thou? soundtrack (in 2000), a monster hit album that has sold over 8 million copies.
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| Bonnie Raitt's self-titled debut was released by Warner Brothers in September 1971 |
Bonnie Raitt, meanwhile, had dropped out of Harvard (she was a Radcliffe sophomore) to tour around and record for Warner Brothers. Raitt was an excellent slide guitarist who played the blues, a distinct contrast to her spectacular red hair and hippie style. At this time, Warners had just released Raitt's self-titled debut album.
Phil Elwood reviewed Hartford and Raitt (March 23) and called the show "an informal, unpretentious and musically exhilarating performance." Elwood was hip enough to note that Bonnie was drawing on much earlier blues material than most of her contemporary folkies, with songs by the likes of Sippie Wallace and Victoria Spivey. Hartford also played solo, and Elwood praised his banjo and fiddle playing. A promotional listing in the Examiner says that Hartford would be joined by Norman Blake, Vassar Clements and Tut Taylor, but Elwood didn't mention other musicians.
Country Joe & The Fish had actually been one of the bigger bands to come out of the Fillmore scene, but they had broken up in mid-1970 and they already seemed dated. Nonetheless, Country Joe himself was still a local star of sorts, and he had not shrunk away from his political views. During this time, when Country Joe played around the Bay Area it was usually as a solo. He often played with various political theater groups, since his wife (Robin Menken) was a performer, and thus he was linked up with various troupes. Joe's current album on Vanguard was Incredible! Live! Country Joe, a solo live album. He also had an album called War War War, which was Robert Service's poems set to music by Country Joe.
The East Bay Sharks defined themselves as "Street Theater," playing for free in Sproul Plaza and the like. To my knowledge, they performed music and skits, some of them improvised. The musical director of the East Bay Sharks was guitarist Phil Marsh, an old Berkeley hand who had led the Cleanliness & Godliness Skiffle Band.
March 28-April 1, 1972 Boarding House Theater, San Francisco, CA: "Waiting For Godot" (Tuesday-Saturday)
March 28-April 2, 1972 Boarding House, San Francisco, CA: Dan Hicks & His Hot Licks (Tuesday-Sunday)
When the Boarding House had started in March 1971, it had mostly featured local acts as headliners. Just a year later, the club's headliners were mostly touring acts. Record companies had a lot of new singer/songwriter and CSN-styled harmony groups that weren't going to stand out as third-on-the-bill at Winterland, so the Boarding House was perfect.
Dan Hicks & His Hot Licks were a San Francisco band if anyone was. Hicks had been the drummer in the Charlatans, who had started the whole psychedelic concert thing back in 1965. By '69, with the demise of the Charlatans, Hicks was leading the Hot Licks. They played a weird amalgam of folk music, Western Swing and pre-war jazz, providing a backdrop for Hicks' snarky songs. Numbers like "How Can I Miss You When You Won't Go Away" and "I Scare Myself" were instant FM classics as soon as the first Hot Licks album (on Epic) was released in 1969.
In 1971, the Hot Licks were signed by Blue Thumb Records, and had released Where's The Money, another underground classic. The band had headlined twice at the Boarding House (June 29-July 4 and November 2-7, 1971). On stage, Hicks fronted the band and played guitar, supported by the swinging vocals of two Hot Licks, likely (at this time) Maryann Price and Naomi Ruth Eisenberg. Sid Page played violin, John Girton played lead guitar, Jaime Leopold played upright bass and there was usually a drummer, too.
Saturday night, April 1, was officially promoted as the First Anniversary of the Boarding House (it had actually opened March 26, 1971), with a free glass of champagne for all. It was an appropriate celebration. The Boarding House's intimate, acoustic sound had seemed at odds with the noisy rock of Fillmore West, but a year later the club was thriving and the Fillmore West was just a fond memory. Dan Hicks & The Hot Licks were local favorites but climbing nationally, exactly the sort of band that would thrive at the Boarding House.
April 3, 1972 Boarding House Theater, San Francisco, CA: "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" (Monday) opens
This production of Edward Albee's "Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf?" had an all-male cast, which is very 1972-San Francisco. It was supposed to run all month (through April 29) but apparently closed pretty quickly. Events in the Boarding House Theater for the balance of the month appear to have been thrown together at the last minute, probably to fill the gap.
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| John Fahey's 1967 album The Transfiguration Of Blind Joe Death, released on his own Takoma Records label, remains a solo guitar masterpiece |
April 4-9, 1972 Boarding House, San Francisco, CA: John Fahey/Kajsa Ohman (Tuesday-Sunday)
Phil Elwood enthusiastically reviewed John Fahey (April 6), noting that he had been a popular underground performer for some years. Elwood predicted that with Fahey newly-signed to Warner Brothers, soon his unique and spectacular acoustic guitar playing would draw a much larger audience and he would no longer play the Boarding House. But no such Warners album appeared, Fahey continued to release his eccentric albums on his own Takoma label and remained an underground act.
Elwood noted folksinger Kajsa Ohman's talents, but didn't think her performance was fully polished yet.
I am not able to find any listings for the Boarding House for the week of April 11-16. I think this is just poor PR work by the club, not a sign of a dark week.
April 13-15, 1972 Boarding House Theater, San Francisco, CA: Vintage Films (Thursday-Saturday)
With the Boarding House Theater empty because "Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf?" had closed, old Charlie Chaplin films were on tap for the weekend. Although these were a desperation booking, it's worthwhile to note that in the pre-video era, there weren't actually many opportunities to see such films.
April 17, 1972 Boarding House, San Francisco, CA: "Hot Damn Show" (Monday) auditions
When the Boarding House had opened in 1971, they had noted that Monday night would be "audition night." This was an old folk tradition going back to hootenannies, although I think at the Boarding House performers actually had to be invited. I think admission was free, too. It has been all but impossible for me to figure out who actually performed at those audition nights. I believe there were still auditions on most (or even all) Monday nights, but trace evidence is hard to come by. For this night, the Examiner said "'Hot Damn Show' auditions."
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| Mimi Farina & Tom Jans released their sole album together Take Heart on A&M Records in 1971 |
April 18-23, 1972 Boarding House, San Francisco, CA: Mimi Farina & Tom Jans (Tuesday-Sunday)
Mimi Farina was locally famous for being Joan Baez's younger sister, and she had performed and recorded around the Bay Area since the 1960s. Her teenage marriage to Richard Farina had ended tragically when he died in a motorcycle accident. Mimi, meanwhile, although she regularly appeared at benefits and the like with her sister, was a much lower-key presence. At this time, she performed in a duo with Tom Jans, with the two of them playing acoustic guitars and singing. Phil Elwood gave a positive review of the duo on April 21.
Mimi Farina and Tom Jans' only album was Take Heart, released in 1971 on A&M Records. It was a folk-rock record with the usual low-key stellar supporting crew (Russ Kunkel, Leland Sklar, Jim Keltner, Craig Doerge). Jans and Farina would play together for a few years, but their recording career as a duo never took off.
April 23, 1972 Boarding House Theater, San Francisco, CA: "House" (Sunday)
I have been unable to find out even the barest of details about this show.
April 25-30, 1972 Boarding House, San Francisco, CA: Rosalie Sorrels/Gary White (Tuesday-Sunday)
Rosalie Sorrels returned for another week. Gary White is unkown to me.
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| Jackie De Shannon's 1972 album on Atlantic was Jackie |
May 2-7, 1972 Boarding House, San Francisco, CA: Jackie DeShannon/Tom Ghent (Tuesday-Sunday)
Jackie DeShannon (born Sharon Lee Myers 1941) has a remarkable career in popular music. On one hand, she is known for singing the classic '60s hits "What The World Needs Now (1965)"and "Put A Little Love In Your Heart" (1969). She has also been a successful hit songwriter, including "When You Walk In The Room" (for The Searchers in 1964) and "Bette Davis Eyes" (a Kim Carnes hit in 1981).
In early 1972, DeShannon was signed to Atlantic, who were trying to refocus her music from pop to R&B. Phil Elwood (May 6) had huge praise for DeShannon, who was backed by a band (including Bill Smith on keyboards). The songs he mentioned were all on her 1972 Atlantic album Jackie.
Tom Ghent is unknown to me.
May 9-14, 1972 Boarding House, San Francisco, CA: Harry Chapin/Pamela Polland (Tuesday-Sunday)
When the Boarding House had opened in March, 1971, it had seemed to be going against the grain. A small acoustic music salon couldn't book the loud, danceable rock music so prevalent at Fillmore West. Yet by 1972, the Boarding House was looking prescient. More and more record companies were signing songwriters, and while they usually had backing musicians, they were small combos, not huge ensembles. Record companies who signed these acts needed a place for them to get heard, and the Boarding House was perfect.
Now that we can look backwards, we see that the Boarding House was booking the likes of Billy Joel (January 25-29, above) and Bonnie Raitt (March 21-26). As time went on, more and more patrons would recall that the cool new acts came through the Boarding House, and the club became a destination. Although we think of Harry Chapin as somewhat dated, in May 1972 he was a hot, rising act. Presumably he had been booked a few months earlier. In March his album Heads and Tales had been released. It included the massive hit single "Taxi," which would have been all over the radio by the time Chapin made it to San Francisco. Phil Elwood's review (May 11) praised Chapin and his quartet, describing him as "almost unknown west of the Hudson."
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| Pamela Polland's debut album was released by Columbia in 1972 |
Opening act Pamela Polland had an extensive career in Southern California in the 60s, playing folk music with Ry Cooder, recording an album with the group Gentle Soul and touring with Joe Cocker's Mad Dogs & Englishmen. By 1972, however, she had moved to the Bay Area and released her first album on Columbia. Elwood likes Polland's music and songs, but he thought her performance needed work. Although Elwood was never shy about who he liked--he loved Polland's songs--he was always clear-eyed about the strengths and weaknesses of any performer he reviewed.
May 15, 1972 Boarding House Theater, San Fransisco, CA: "Electric Impressions" with acoustic music (Monday)
I have no idea what "Electric Impressions" might have been. The listing also said "with acoustic music," whatever that might have meant.
At this juncture, the Boarding House nightclub and the Boarding House Theater were on opposite trajectories. The nightclub had started right when the music industry was looking to showcase singer/songwriters and harmony groups in more intimate settings. The labels were anxious to subsidize touring by these acts at places like the Boarding House, since the ultimate payoff in record sales could be so great. Looking backwards, we see fantastic acts playing the Boarding House on their way up. Even some of the acts who did not become hugely successful were putting out good music and were well worth seeing.
The upstairs Boarding House Theater, in contrast, kept booking duds. I don't know much about theater, but I have refrained from summarizing the poor reviews that each of these shows got. A number of events were either not extended or closed early, a clear sign of theatrical failure. In some cases it appears that the musical acts at the Boarding House Theater were just booked to fill in empty weekends. So the Boarding House had a nightclub on the way up and a Theater spriraling down, at the same address. After May, the Boarding House Theater largely stopped booking events.
A few months later, the solution seems to have presented itself. In November of 1972, the Boarding House nightclub moved permanently upstairs, replacing the "Boarding House Theater." For patrons, it was no problem: they were still going to 960 Bush Street, just heading upstairs instead of down. For the club itself, it increased capacity from 200 to 350. That was still rather small for the booming rock market, as a matter of fact, but it made the Boarding House viable. The club would continue to suffer from the lack of a full bar, as beer and wine alone were not as lucrative.
The downstairs remained active as a dining room. There were occasional shows there, too. I believe in the mid-70s the downstairs room became a regular venue for comedy, when San Francisco became a center for new comedians.
Congress Of Wonders had headlined a weekend at the Boarding House Theater (January 19-20). Although they were a local act, they had released two albums on Fantasy (their 1972 album was Sophomoric) so they were on a par with the sort of touring acts who headlined the club. Prairie Madness is unknown to me, but I think they were a folk duo.
The May 21 Examiner noted that the Boarding House was auditioning comedians. I'm assuming this was on Monday nights. Since David Allen had been the house manager at the hungry i during the 1960s comedy explosion, he certainly knew how to evaluate comedians. The Bay Area was about to go through a live comedy explosion, with Robin Williams and many others, and Allen was getting in on the ground floor of that as well. The Boarding House would be an important booking for rising comedians throughout the rest of the 1970s.
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| May 21, 1972 SF Chronicle |
May 23-28, 1972 Boarding House, San Francisco, CA: Tom Rush/Chi Coltrane (Tuesday-Sunday)
Tom Rush had started performing in 1961, while he was still at Harvard. His early albums were on Prestige and Elektra. In, 1968 Rush's Elektra album The Circle Game included songs by Joni Mitchell, Jackson Browne, James Taylor and Rush himself. Rush was accompanied by other musicians, so in many ways he initiated the era of the singer/songwriter. By 1972, Rush had released his third album for Columbia, Merrimack County.
Chi Coltrane was from Wisconsin (b 1948) but had gotten recognized as a club performer in Chicago. Her 1972 debut album was on Columbia, so it makes sense that the label would book her with the better-known Tom Rush. Coltrane played piano and wrote songs in a gospel-rock style, somewhat of a contrast with her pretty blonde looks. Coltrane ended up becoming more popular in Europe than the States, and she would move to Europe a few years later.
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| Utah Phillips self-released 1973 album on Philo "Good Though!" included his classic talking blues "Moose Turd Pie" (it's good, though) |
May 30-June 4, 1972 Boarding House, San Francisco, CA: Ramblin' Jack Elliott/U Utah Phillips (Tuesday-Sunday)
Ramblin' Jack returned for another week. At this time, for the few popular folk artists still touring around, there weren't really places to play in the Bay Area, so the Boarding House was an excellent option.
As for U. Utah Phillips, it's worth quoting Wikipedia here:
Bruce Duncan "Utah" Phillips (May 15, 1935 – May 23, 2008) was an American labor organizer, folk singer, storyteller and poet. He described the struggles of labor unions and the power of direct action, self-identifying as an anarchist... He adopted the name U. Utah Phillips in keeping with the hobo tradition of adopting a moniker that included an initial and the state of origin, and in emulation of country vocalist T. Texas Tyler.
Prestige had released the U. Utah Phillips album Nobody Knows Me in 1962, but since then he had not released anything. Still, he was an underground folk legend of sorts. In 1973, Phillips would put out an album on Philo--essentially self-releasing it--called "Good Though!" The title was the punchline from Phillips most famous song, later made legendary by KFAT-fm, out of Gilroy, CA, called "Moose Turd Pie." The song always brought down the house, even if the audience had never heard it before.
June 8-11, 1972 Boarding House, San Francisco, CA: Randy Newman/Jim Croce (Thursday-Sunday)
Hollywood-born Randy Newman, from a family of film composers, had been writing hit songs since the early 1960s. His best known hit had been "Mama Told Me Not To Come" for Three Dog Night in 1970. In 1972, Newman would come into the light as a solo artist. Warner Brothers had released his fourth album Sail Away in May of '72. Phil Elwood gave an ecstatic review on the Monday after the shows, saying that Newman had broken the Boarding House dinner-show engagement record (however exactly that was defined). Newman accompanied himself on piano. We are now used to Newman's wry, self-deprecating persona but it would have been a charming surprise at the time.
The opening act was Jim Croce. Elwood described him as "a good guitar-playing, cigar chewing, roughneck singer." He added "Croce has some substantial material--good lyrics, rockability [sic] beat and heavy instrumental stuff." Croce's solo album You Don't Mess Around With Jim had just been released by ABC Records in April. The title track would score as a hit single starting in June.
This weekend's booking would have been pretty memorable to anyone who went, given Newman's historic status and Croce's unfortunate death in 1973. The run was only Thursday to Sunday, and I have no idea if the club was open earlier in the week.
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| David Bromberg's 1972 Columbia debut album |
June 13-18, 1972 Boarding House, San Francisco, CA: David Bromberg/Chris Smither (Tuesday-Sunday)
David Bromberg had been well established for some time in Greenwich Village and the New York studios as both an acoustic and electric guitarist. He had played on Bob Dylan albums (like New Morning), for one thing, but he was still just a name on the back of albums. In February 1972, Columbia had released his debut album. Although Bromberg wasn't an exceptional vocalist, his guitar playing was stellar. He found a nice mixture between great covers and some unique material of his own. Bromberg had dropped out of Columbia University to play music, and he had a certain appeal to over-educated suburban guys (take it from me).
Bromberg played a week at the Boarding House, his first performances in San Francisco. Elwood reviewed his concert and was enthusiastic. Bromberg was joined by Steve Burgh (mostly on bass) and Andy Stadtman (mandolin), as well as by part-time band member Jon Sholle on guitar. Bromberg's astonishing facility on anything with strings can only truly be contemplated in person, and Phil Elwood was suitably impressed (June 23).
In fact, the next week, Bromberg would record for four days with most of the Grateful Dead at Wally Heider Studios (Garcia, Keith Godchaux, Phil Lesh and Bill Kreutzmann). The tracks would end up on his next two albums. Later in 1972, Bromberg would move out to Marin County, so his first visit to San Francisco was no small thing. Bromberg would live in the Bay Area until the early 1980s, after which he would move to Chicago.
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| Chris Smither's second album, Don't It Drag On, was released on Poppy Records in 1972 |
Opening act Chris Smither was part of the Cambridge, MA folk scene and was friendly with Bonnie Raitt. He had released two albums on Poppy Records in 1971 and '72, and Raitt made his song "Love Me Like A Man" one of her signature tunes. Smither also played with Raitt on stage and on record. Still, he had some very serious health issues and basically dropped out of sight for the balance of the 1970s. He would not release his third album until 1984, and his fourth only in 1991.
June 20-25, 1972 Boarding House, San Francisco, CA: John Prine (Tuesday-Sunday)
Atlantic Records had released John Prine's debut album in September 1971 to relatively little fanfare. The record was filled with classic Prine songs, like "Illegal Smile," "Sam Stone," "Angel From Montgomery" and "Paradise." Even by mid-72, fans and critics were catching on. Prine started to tour around, and his wry, charming persona disarmed everyone who heard him. By June, Prine already had the dreaded "New Dylan" curse affixed to him. Still, he packed the Boarding House, and Phil Elwood could not say enough good things about him. As usual, Elwood was right, and it is typical of him that he was right about John Prine before most people had ever heard of him.
I assume there was an opening act, but I can't find a listing for one.
June 27-July 2, 1972 Boarding House, San Francisco, CA: John Stewart/Cris Williamson/JD Souther (Tuesday-Sunday)
Phil Elwood had a very positive review (on June 29) for this week's triple bill, but embedded in it was an interesting admission. He began his review by saying "what I feared might be a tedious marathon three-part show at the Boarding House turned out to be lively, varied, smoothly produced and enthusiastically recieved with respect, by a large crowd." Now, Elwood was a professional critic who went out almost every night, so his expectations may have sometimes been different than regular fans. Still, I think he touched on an important note about the success of the Boarding House.
Boarding House bookings typically had a six night run with two shows each night. The headliner played an hour or a little less, and the opener between 20 and 30 minutes. The early show was done by 10:00pm or shortly thereafter, and the late show didn't run too much after midnight. This was a distinct contrast to the "jam all night" ethos of the Fillmore, replicated in local clubs like the Keystone in Berkeley. Rock fans were getting older--I mean, granted, it was 1972, but a lot of rock fans were in their late 20s--and they didn't want to stay up all night.
A lot of rock fans now had kids and regular jobs, and hanging out wasn't the order of the day. At the Boarding House, whether you went to the early or late show, the entire event was 90 minutes to 2 hours, and then you were on your way home. Elwood's concern that three acts might engender a "marathon" may have been overwrought, but I think he correctly assessed that the appeal of the Boarding House was seeing who you came for and then going home.
John Stewart (1939-2008) had headlined at the Boarding House in the week of December 2, 1971. Stewart had been a member of The Kingston Trio from 1961 to 1967. The group had been very popular, but they were passed by when the likes of The Beach Boys and The Beatles came along. Stewart had gone solo, and released a variety of well-received albums, such as 1969's California Bloodlines. Although he had written a hit for The Monkees ("Daydream Believer"), Stewart was well known in the early 70s, but not particularly successful.
Stewart had released three albums on Capitol Records from 1968-70. Clearly, Capitol felt Stewart was ticketed for success in the new world of singer/songwriters. Still, the albums hadn't done particularly well. Stewart had switched to Warner Brothers, and his 1971 debut for the label was The Lonesome Picker Rides Again. It was largely solo, and produced by his brother Mike Stewart, famous from the We Five. By 1972, Stewart had moved to the North Bay. His current album for Warners was Sunstorm, released in April, and also produced by brother Mike. Elwood praised Stewart and his band, which included the great Chris Darrow on various instruments and drummer David Kemper (many years later he would play with Jerry Garcia and then Bob Dylan), along with Loren Newkirk on piano and Buffy Ford (Stewart's wife) on vocals.
Opener Cris Williamson had played the Boarding House the previous year (September 7-12, 1971). Williamson (b. 1947) was from Deadwood, SD, of all places. She had released three obscure solo albums on Avanti Records in 1964-65. By 1971, she had resurfaced in the Bay Area. Williamson had released an album on Ampex in 1971. It had been recorded in New York (with Eddie Kramer, at Electric Lady Studios) and in San Francisco (at Wally Heider's, with Jim Gaines). An army of session men, some well-known, were on the record. It went nowhere.
In future years, Williamson would assert that there should be a record label run by women, for women, and that would lead to Olivia Records. Olivia released Williamson's 1975 album The Changer And The Changed. Besides being a fine album, Olivia was in the forerfront of DIY releases, fitting in nicely in the 70s, along with Beserkely Records and numerous punk labels. The message was, if you want albums of a certain type, release 'em yourself. Back in '72, Elwood gallantly reported "Miss Williamson is eons advanced from the folksinger we once knew."
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| JD Souther's 1972 debut album on Asylum Records |
Elwood did not mention the rare third act, songwriter J.D. Souther, who probably opened with a 20-minute solo set. Souther, from Detroit via Texas, had released an unheralded album as part of the duo Longbranch Pennywhistle with his roommate Glenn Frey (their other roommate was Jackson Browne). Souther was one of the first artists signed to David Geffen's Asylum Records, and they released his debut solo album in Summer '72. Over the next few years, many of Souther's songs would be recorded by the likes of Linda Ronstadt and The Eagles (like "Best Of My Love" and "James Dean"). Souther was also a part-time actor, and would have a recurring role in the 90s drama "ThirtySomething."
The San Francisco Examiner also noted a KPFA broadcast of "Live From The Boarding House." Presumably this was a broadcast of the Stewart/Williamson/Souther billing, which would be a pretty fascinating artefact. I am not aware, however, of any surviving tape. From very limited information, it seems that KPFA broadcast the occasional show from the Boarding House, but not with the consistency of KMPX. The only surviving KPFA tape I know from the Boarding House was Jerry Garcia (billed as "The Merl Saunders Experience," amusingly) on January 24, 1973. I hope some more may surface.
The Boarding House, 960 Bush Street, San Francisco: July 1972 Status ReportWhen the Boarding House had opened in March 1971, billing itself as "an acoustic music salon," it hadn't actually seemed that promising. While proprietor David Allen had managed the hungry i, that had been several years and some cultural lifetimes ago. Doug Weston, a big-shot from Hollywood, had opened the San Francisco version of his important club The Troubadour at 960 Bush, but that had bombed catastrophically after just four months. Allen opened the Boarding House in the ashes of The Troubadour, but it was against the grain. San Francisco rock and roll was defined by the Fillmore West, loud and electric, growing so fast that the Fillmore West had closed for being too small.
After a cautious beginning, the little Boarding House was finding its way by the end of 1971. Record companies who wanted a place for their newly-signed songwriters to be heard correctly determined that the club was a better venue than third on the bill at Winterland. By 1972, record companies couldn't sign singer/songwriters fast enough, and made sure they got out on the road. As this chronicle shows, lots of memorable acts played the Boarding House when they were just being born: Randy Newman, Billy Joel, John Prine, Harry Chapin, Jim Croce, Bonnie Raitt and others.
The only threat to the Boarding House was its own success. The tiny basement venue only held about 200. Even with six night bookings, and double shows each night, performers who were breaking on FM radio weren't going to play such small gigs. The fact that the Boarding House didn't have a full bar, but could only serve beer and wine as a restaurant, also capped their earnings.
Many nightclubs had to face the growing pains of becoming too successful. The Boarding House was a rare instance where the solution was just upstairs. The Boarding House Theater, with room for about 350 patrons, was just above the nightclub at the same address. Intended by Doug Weston to book "regular" theater, it had never had a successful run of a play or a musical, but it had been the venue for some good musical bookings. The writing was on the wall. By November of 1972, the Boarding House would move upstairs, nearly doubling its capacity, all while the music industry was exploding around it.
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