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Stanford's big 1968 rock event on July 28 was headlined by the Chambers Brothers, on top of a bunch of local bands |
In
1966, Stanford University had the concentration of finance and young
folks to provide extra booking for the hip Fillmore bands. Even when
Stanford got nervous about bands on campus, the Stanford-based
MidPeninsula Free University were the ones putting on Be-In in Palo
Alto's biggest park. By 1968, loud rock and roll was more mainstream, at
least in Northern California. Young people up and down the Peninsula
wanted to see bands full of long-haired guitarists playing their own
music. Palo Alto's downtown, having been gutted by the Stanford Shopping
Center in the 1950s, started to add shops selling lava lamps and
posters. There weren't any bars in Palo Alto yet--not until 1981--but
The Poppycock sold beer, and that was enough. The locus of rock music in
town had moved off the Stanford campus and over to the Poppycock. I have written about Palo Alto rock music in 1968 in great detail.
Still, there was one big event on the Stanford campus in 1968. Frost Amphitheatre, a beautiful outdoor arena built in 1937, was an expansive grass bowl with perfect sight lines. With a capacity of 6,900, however, it was generally far too large for 60s rock events. Stanford, like most colleges, was also generally resistant to rock shows that might interfere with classes. By the Summer of '68, the rock business had gotten big enough that using Frost at least made some financial sense. For whatever unknown reasons, Stanford was amenable to a 7-hour, Sunday afternoon rock "festival." It was the only event of its kind at Frost--to the present day--and it is perpetually recalled, albeit in the foggiest ways, when old Palo Alto rock concerts are resurrected.
July
28, 1968 Frost Amphitheatre, Stanford U., Palo Alto Chambers
Brothers/Quicksilver Messenger Service/Sons of Champlin/Creedence
Clearwater Revival/Santana Blues Band/Morning Glory “Stanford Summer Rock”
The July 19 Stanford Daily had a display ad for "Student Police Needed for Folk-Rock Festival at Frost." $1.50/hr for, apparently seven hours of work, was actual money in 1968.
The July 19 Stanford Daily had a display ad for "Student Police Needed for Folk-Rock Festival at Frost." $1.50/hr for, apparently seven hours of work, was actual money in 1968.
Modern
readers may think the order of the billing (from the poster) is
inverted. In fact, the Chambers Brothers were Fillmore headliners with a
successful hit single “Time” (with the memorable chorus “The time has
come today”). The Chambers Brothers were popular enough in 1968 that
other record companies released crummy old tapes of theirs in order to
cash in. Vault Records released a 1967 live Chambers Brothers tape as Shout!,
with front and back covers taken at the Frost concert (above and
below). It's an inferior, terrible record, by the way--and I like the
Chambers Brothers--but the cover is fun if you're from Palo Alto.
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The
back cover of the 1969 Chambers Brothers Vault Records album Shout!,
recorded in 1967, but with pictures from the July 1968 Frost show. Note
the tiny backline. |
Creedence
Clearwater Revival, while performing together as a unit for several
years, mostly as The Golliwogs, had only recently become a full-time
group because John Fogerty had completed his duties in the US Army
Reserve. Their debut album on Fantasy had probably just been released.
Possibly their first single “Suzie Q” was getting play on AM radio at
this time, as it did become a local hit. Creedence had played The
Poppycock, and they had been broadcast live on Stanford radio station KZSU-fm,
but they were still just up-and-coming. As it happened, Quicksilver Messenger Service was late, so they came on last, after the Chambers Brothers.
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The July 19, 1968 Stanford Daily reports that the Satan Blues Band will open at Frost |
On
the cover of the Chambers Brothers lp, amongst the crowd watching from
stage left, Carlos Santana is clearly visible in a blue shirt (back row,
6th from the right), just another hippie checking out the hit band.
Three summers later, when Bill Graham closed the Fillmore West, Santana,
Quicksilver and Creedence all headlined, and the Sons played as well,
and all were broadcast live on FM radio. No wonder this 1968 Frost show
looms so large in Palo Alto memory.
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