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| An ad from the UC Irvine Anthill newspaper (Nov 11 '67) for the Family Dog presentation of the Oxford Circle in Campus Hall at UC Irvine on Friday, November 12, 1966 |
Chet Helms and The Family Dog are cornerstones of San Francisco rock history, and thus the history of live rock concerts throughout the world. In late 1965, some proto-hippies who lived in an old house on Pine Street in San Francisco known as "The Dog House" put on some rock concerts. They used the name Family Dog, after one of the adopted strays at home. At the same time, in a rooming house at 1090 Page Street, Chet Helms was organizing jam sessions in the basement, featuring some residents playing weird, loud music. Chet helped them pick the name Big Brother and The Holding Company. By early 1966, Chet Helms had taken over the Family Dog, and Big Brother was playing around town.
Some local characters called The Merry Pranksters found a way to commercialize their "Acid Tests," billing it as The Trips Festival. The Trips Festival immersed the crowd in loud music and a light show, and everyone was free to dance. Trips Festival stage manager Bill Graham teamed up with Chet Helms to start producing concerts at the nearby Fillmore Auditorium. They were hugely successful, but Bill and Chet had different visions. Graham stayed at the Fillmore, and Helms moved over to the Avalon Ballroom. The Fillmore became the beacon that lit the way for the modern rock concert, while the Avalon was always more underground. Over the decades, rock historians have labored to uncover the intricate history of the Fillmore and the Family Dog, so much so that even the posters for the shows have legendary status on their own terms.
Chet Helms' Family Dog was a San Francisco phenomenon. After a few shows in '65 and '66, the Dog set up shop at the Avalon from April 1966 through November 1968. In late '67, there were abortive efforts to set up Family Dog affiliates in Denver, London and Portland, but they never took root. When the Avalon closed, Helms had a difficult stretch, but he reopened at the Family Dog on The Great Highway. The beautiful, cleverly conceived operation was either too late or too soon, and undercapitalized, and it was only open from June 1969 through August 1970. Afterwards, the Family Dog receded into memory, the famous logo only brought out on occasion for nostalgia.
Yet one thread of the Family Dog story turns out not to be unraveled. Way back in 1966, before Denver, before the record companies got involved, Chet Helms and the Family Dog put on a show in Southern California. It seems to have been at least a modest success. Yet it has dropped from the sight of any Family Dog scholars. This post will rectify that oversight, and review what is known about the Family Dog presenting the Oxford Circle and The Magnificent VII at Campus Hall in UC Irvine on Saturday, November 12, 1966.
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| This display ad appeared in the UC Irvine Anthill student newspaper on November 11, 1966. It appears to be a best-efforts attempt at an Avalon-style poster |
University of California at Irvine
In the 1950s, the University of California system correctly anticipated an explosion in college enrollment stemming from the "Baby Boom" and the GI Bill. The system expanded their existing campuses, and planned three new campuses in San Diego, Santa Cruz and Orange County. The site of the Orange County campus was the former Irvine Ranch. UC Irvine's first classes began in October, 1965. In that first semester, there were just 1,589 students enrolled (there are currently around 35,000). Campus Hall, the multi-purpose auditorium and gym, was one of the nine original buildings present when the campus was opened. Campus Hall included a 1400 seat arena, used for sports, concerts and student assemblies.
Strange as it may seem today, colleges and universities all had budgets in those days for arts and entertainment. The school was meant to enrich the local culture as well as provide some fun. Intercollegiate athletics, for example, had originally been encouraged as local entertainment, although it had strayed far from that goal after World War 2. Nonetheless, in its initial years, with only a few thousand students, UC Irvine had substantial performers every month. Clearly the fees were subsidized, since the arts were considered a public good. A review of the student paper for the 1966-67 year (The Anthill) reveals performances by Duke Ellington, the Martha Graham Dance company, symphony orchestras and rock bands with hit records.
Preview
The Family Dog show was previewed in the weekly student paper, The Anthill, the day before the show.
SF Family Dog To Present "Freak Out"
"The Family Dog," a professional company from San Francisco, is presenting what is commonly known as a "Happening," an "Op-Dance," or a "Freak-Out" this coming Saturday night, November 12, in UCI's Campus Hall. The show and dance, which begins at 8:30 p.m. and lasts five hours, features two bands, a fantastic array of colored projections, cartoons and abstract images on the wall, and flashing "strobe" lights which make the dancers appear to be moving in fast or slow motion.
According to the Family Dog, because of the rising popularity, hardly a dance is produced in the San Francisco area without this type of show.
The prices of admission range in San Francisco from $2.50 to $3.50, but because the event is being sponsored by the ASUCI, the price to UCI students and their guests is only $1.00.
The Oxford Circle, a band from the San Francisco area with specializes in Family-Dog type music will be featured in the show. Their performance will be supplemented by a local band, the Magnificent VII.
The Family Dog has been putting on shows in the Avalon Ballroom and other auditoriums in San Francisco for the past year. Their UCI appearance is the first of what they hope to be a series of performances on college campuses.
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| A picture in the UC Irvine Anthill promoted the Campus Hall concert by The Association on October 28, 1966. At the time, the band had a hit with "Along Comes Mary." |
Universities typically had a student group, usually called the "Entertainment Committee" or something, that made suggestions and recommendations, while a professional booking agency handled the actual arrangement. There must have been some real hipsters on this Committee, however. Just two weeks earlier The Association had appeared at Campus Hall. Now, the Association had a hit single with "Along Comes Mary, " but they weren't really hip. Someone knew something, however, about what was going on San Francisco. At this exact time in Los Angeles, Fillmore/Avalon type events were being held at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, billed as a "Freak-Out," which the Anthill article references. The eagerness with which the preview article assures the students that it's really cool in San Francisco was probably to make up for the fact that the Oxford Circle had no album, just a single on an obscure label ("Foolish Woman"/"Mind Destruction" on World United, released back in January 1966).
The Oxford Circle
The Oxford Circle were from Davis, CA, near Sacramento. UC Davis had become another branch of the University of California in 1959, so the market for Davis rock bands boomed throughout the 1960s. They were originally a surf band called The Hideaways, but changed their name to the Oxford Circle when the British Invasion became popular. They were influenced by the louder groups like the Yardbirds and Them. When Oxford Circle started getting booked at the Avalon, the band got louder and the guitar solos got longer. By the end of 1966, Oxford Circle's lineup was:
Dehner Patten-lead guitar
Gary Yoder-guitar, vocals
Jim Keylor-bass
Paul Whaley-drums
Paul Whaley would go on to become a founding member of Blue Cheer in 1967, and Gary Yoder would join Blue Cheer in 1969. For a great snapshot of the Oxford Circle live, find the 1997 Big Beat cd Oxford Circle Live At The Avalon 1966, recorded some time that year (likely June 17-18, opening for Captain Beefheart).
The Magnificent VII
The Magnificent VII were an Orange County band with an arc similar to that of Oxford Circle. Per their website, the band had formed in Anaheim as the Vi Counts in 1961, and changed their name to the Nocturnes in 1963. They had a fair amount of regional success, playing places like the Rendezvous Ballroom in Balboa and the Revalaire Club in Redondo Beach (where they beat the Crossfires--later The Turtles--in a Battle Of The Bands). In 1965, in the face of the British Invasion, the Nocturnes changed their name to the Magnificent VII. They were regular performers at Disneyland during this period, one of the premier paying gigs in Orange County at this time. The Magnificent VII had released a few singles on independent labels.
The Light Show
For a light show, Chet Helms hired The Outfit, the light show associated with the New Delhi River Band. The New Delhi River Band was Palo Alto's second psychedelic blues band, and included future New Riders David Nelson and Dave Torbert (I have written up their entire history elsewhere). The New Delhi River Band and The Outfit were regular performers at a psychedelic outpost called The Barn, in Scotts Valley. The tiny venue was in a rural part of Santa Cruz County, just over Highway 17 from San Jose (I have written up the history of The Barn as well).
The initial idea had been that some Palo Alto bohemians, organized (sort of) by a guy named Carl Moore, would open up a club called The Outfit, but the strange little venture folded after one night. The projected "house band" of The Outfit became The New Delhi River Band, while the light show became The Outfit. Over time, the light show evolved into using the name Magic Theater, and they would sometimes appear separately from the New Delhi River Band.
I first heard about the Family Dog's Irvine adventure over a decade ago from one of the old Palo Alto crew (hi Chris), a teenager who had often assisted The Outfit's light show at The Barn or elsewhere. He was invited to go down to Southern California but passed on the episode. In this case, the "traveling" light show seems to have been the remnants of The Outfit, rather than the Magic Theater, although that is just a derived assumption. Until recently, while I had a grainy copy of the ad, I did not know whether the event had actually taken place. The other person I knew who probably went had passed on (the late Rusty Towle), so I had no way to confirm what happened. As more and more universities digitize their archives however, various lost events have surfaced, and I can finally confirm that the Family Dog did put on a full psychedelic dance concert with the Oxford Circle at UC Irvine.
November 12, 1966
The Anthill was only a weekly paper, and only previewed campus events, rather than reviewing them. So the Anthill had no immediate description of the Family Dog event. In January, 1967 however, Big Brother and The Holding Company were booked at Campus Hall (see below), and the preview describes that forthcoming event as "similar to the one presented by the San Francisco Family Dog last November." So it happened, and it must have gone well enough.
Chet Helms himself almost certainly wasn't at UC Irvine. The 13th Floor Elevators and Moby Grape were tearing it up at the Avalon, so he probably sent one of his lieutenants to manage the Irvine show. The Oxford Circle had a gig the night before at Freeborn Hall in UC Davis. The band probably drove from Davis to Irvine (remember, they would have to take CA-99 through Fresno and Bakersfield, as I-5 was not complete). Over at The Barn, Ken Kesey and his Pranksters were having their own event, so the Outfit (nor the Magic Theater) wouldn't have been booked either, thus freeing them for Irvine duty.
It was a big weekend in Southern California, too. The Sunset Strip Riots, as they were known, peaked on the weekend of November 12, as teenagers with protest signs objected to the crackdown by the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department. As Stephen Stills put it in his famous hit song "For What It's Worth": "What a field day for The Heat/There must have been a thousand people in the street/Singing songs and carrying signs/Mostly saying hooray for our side." Of course, Stills was at the Fillmore that weekend with the Buffalo Springfield, but he surely saw it on TV.
Although the UC Irvine event was the only Southern California foray by the Family Dog, it hinted at another path for Chet Helms. Since Helms is always compared with Bill Graham, he often seemed like a weak businessman, which was only true when he was compared to Bill--a comparison most people would fall short of anyway. The last line of the Anthill preview says that the "UCI appearance is the first of what [the Family Dog] hope to be a series of performances on college campuses." Honestly, Chet could have had all the Avalon bands playing every college on the West Coast, for good, reliable money, but it wasn't the path he chose to take. Sic transit Gloria Psychedelia.
January 14, 1967 Campus Hall, UC Irvine, Irvine, CA: Big Brother and The Holding Company/Magnificent VII (Saturday)
The Anthill was only published on Thursdays, and did not generally include reviews of past events. In the January 13, 1967 edition, however, I found confirmation that the Family Dog show in November took place. Remarkably, this comment came as part of a description of a Saturday night (January 14) show by no less than Big Brother and The Holding Company. Big Brother had initially been managed by Chet Helms, but they had since split off. Amicably, of course--it was San Francisco--and Big Brother regularly played at the Avalon. There was some underground buzz about Big Brother even though at this time they had no records.
GRAPE JELLY PLOTS DANCE & LIGHT SHOW [Anthill, UC Irvine, January 12, 1967]
The Grape Jelly Plot, a newly-formed student organization, is presenting a dance concert and light show this Saturday night, January 14, at 8:30 p.m., in UCI's Campus Hall.
The show will be similar to the one presented by the San Francisco Family Dog last November.
The program features two bands, colored lights, movies, slides and cartoons projected on the walls, along with flashing strobe lights which make dancers appear to moving in fast or slow motion.
Supplying music this time will be one of the most popular bands in the San Francisco area, Big Brother and The Holding Company. Completing the show will be a local band, the Magnificent VII.
Although the price of admission to the show is $2.50, UCI students have the opportunity to buy tickets in advance at $1.50. Advance tickets are on sale at the Activities Office.I assume that Big Brother played the Irvine show, since there was no news in the next few editions of the Anthill that the show was canceled. For those who are archeologically focused, the Big Brother show at UC Irvine has never appeared on a Big Brother concert list.
It is true that Big Brother and The Holding Company were at San Francisco's Human Be-In on the morning of Sunday, January 15. It is crucial to remember, however, that intra-state air travel in California was both jet-powered and unregulated. Big Brother could have flown from SFO to LAX on Pacific Southwest Airlines for no more than $20 per ticket. Their guitars would have been carry-on luggage and drums and amps would have been checked baggage. If students picked them up at the airport, they could have flown back to SFO on a 6am flight and gone straight to Golden Gate Park. So the economics of an SF band playing a one-nighter in Los Angeles were very plausible (as a regional footnote, Air California would be based at Orange County Airport, and had $10 flights to Northern California, but they did not start until January 16 '67).
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| The Anthill, UC Irvine, Thursday March 30, 1967 |
Orange County would become an important place in Southern California rock concert history, but that turned out to surround larger venues like the Anaheim Convention Center. UC Irvine was an attractive booking for an off-night, but the 1400-seat Campus Hall rapidly became awfully small even by college gym standards. There were still a few random 60s events, however, probably booked when touring bands needed to fill an off night. The most prominent I could find were:
March 31, 1967 Campus Hall, UC Irvine, Irvine, CA: Buffalo Springfield/Cobblestone Garden (Friday)
September 27, 1968 Campus Hall, UC Irvine, Irvine, CA: Big Brother and The Holding Company (Friday)
May 1, 1969 Crawford Hall, UC Irvine, Irvine, CA: Led Zeppelin/Lee Michaels/Hard Luck Boy (Thursday)
Campus Hall had changed names by this time. The Zeppelin show seems to have been one for the ages, exactly the kind of event that ensures rock concerts aren't held in a venue for decades. Zep manager Peter Grant recalled (on the Led Zeppelin site)
"It was a great night when they appeared at the University of California. They did five encores that night and although the hall was filled to capacity with over 3,000 people in the audience, there were over 700 people outside who couldn’t get in. Fights broke out outside because people couldn’t get tickets and when Jimmy heard about it he asked everyone to squeeze up, had the side doors opened and managed to squeeze the waiting people in the hall.” (May 1969)
There were occasional concerts at Crawford Hall after this, but not many. There could hardly have been more memorable ones.
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