Delano
Grape Strikers Benefit
I have
always had a soft spot for hand-pulled silkscreen posters and this "Blow
Your Mind" poster is one that I have, almost certainly irrationally, seen
as important. By no stretch of the
imagination is this a psychedelic poster in the purest sense, but the event
itself, and the participants are important. The Delano Grape Strike had started
only a few months earlier and at this time I guess no one thought it would lead
to years of strikes, protests and boycotts of companies such as Safeway. By
1967 the Berkeley Barb was publishing lists of organisations and products to be
avoided.
As for
the bands, John Handy was already a name act. He had played with Charles Mingus
in the late 50s and was a regular performer in the Bay Area with his Quintet
that also included Jerry Hahn. However, each of the other acts was still in
their infancy as far as performances were concerned.
In their
early days The Final Solution were occasionally augmented by the vocals of 18
year old Jane Dornacker and in such cases changed their name to Earth Mother
and The Final Solution. Dornacker would go on to have a reasonable musical,
stand-up comedienne and acting career before turning newshound and broadcaster.
Unfortunately she lost her life in a helicopter accident whilst reporting a
traffic incident in New York in 1986.
At this
point the Sopwith Camel were living and rehearsing in the Firehouse in Presidio
Heights. This was only their fourth public performance.
Nelveton
Butler’s name crops up on a couple of posters – I always wondered if he was one
of the other members of The Skins (with Ulysses S Crockett) who used to play
drums between sets at the Fillmore in the early days – I rather suspect he was.
So who
were the unbilled “other big names”?
The first
were the Family Tree which was one of the earlier musical vehicles for Bob
Segarini. They had formed after The Brogues (I Ain’t No Miracle Worker) went
their separate way.
The final
act was Quicksilver Messenger Service – again featuring remnants of The Brogues
in Gary Duncan and Greg Elmore. Although the members of QMS had come together
at the first Family Dog dance in October 1965, this was again only their fourth
public performance using the QMS name – although there were a couple of earlier
performances where the band performed without a name. Obviously someone pulled
the event together – perhaps Ambrose Hollingworth was involved in some way.
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