July 7, 1974 Islip Speedway, Islip, NY: Richie Havens/Brewer & Shipley/Roger McGuinn/Maureen McGovern/John Lee Hooker/Livingston Taylor/David Peel (Sunday) L.I. Summer Festival
The live rock concert market was exploding in the 1970s, exploding so quickly that it was outpacing the venues for those shows. In most places, sports venues like basketball arenas and football and baseball stadiums were co-opted as temporary rock concert venues. Not all of them worked out, but enough of them did so that the industry could expand. Amongst the efforts to expand the venue options, however, were various efforts throughout the country to use auto racing tracks for rock concerts.
On the surface, auto racing tracks seemed perfect. Rock concerts had to use modern facilities with power, parking, bathrooms and concessions. Auto racing tracks were designed to absorb fairly large crowds, but only to do so a certain number of weekends a year. Race tracks were typically near enough to population centers to draw a crowd, but just remote enough that the continuous loud noise was not a problem. Is that a recipe for rock concerts or what? Yet, by and large, the efforts to make race tracks into regular outdoor concert venues failed, even when some individual concerts sometimes succeeded. Looking at the different failures to convert auto racing facilities to concert venues tells us a lot about the 1970s rock concert business.
I have an ongoing, if intermittent series on race tracks as concert venues (see below for some links). I am generally of the view that auto racing venues were potentially viable venues for regular rock concerts, but cultural gaps between the auto racing and rock and roll world, along with some unfortunate publicity, undermined such cooperation. That wasn't always true, however. In the case of Long Island’s Islip Speedway, using it as a rock concert venue just wasn't that great an idea. This post will look at the effort to make a rock concert venue at West Islip Speedway in West Islip, NY, primarily a concert on July 7, 1974. Anyone with additional information, insights, corrections or flashbacks, please include them in the Comments.
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| Aerial photo of Islip Speedway, W. Islip, NY, 1980 (photo: Kris Holmberg) |
Long Island Rock Concert Landscape, Summer 1973
Geographically, Long Island extends Eastward from Manhattan, with the East River, Long Island Sound and the Atlantic Ocean surrounding it. The City Boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens are located on Long Island. In New York parlance, however, "Long Island" refers to the two counties East of New York City. Including the City boroughs, Long Island is one of the most densely populated regions of the United States. Even so, Nassau County, abutting the city, and much of Suffolk County are populous as well.
Between 1940 and 1970, the populations of Nassau and Suffolk County expanded from a combined population of 600,000 to 1.8 million residents. It goes without saying that by 1970, many of these new residents were teenagers, and most of those were rock fans.
Some of those fans had access to rock concerts in the city, via the Long Island Rail Road commuter line, but not all of them. In any case, parents were not always thrilled about the idea of their kids going to the big bad City. The biggest concert venue was the new Nassau Coliseum, which had opened in 1972. There were grumbles at the time that the 15,000-capacity hockey arena was "too big." These kind of complaints were common in every city, as bands moved from the downtown Fillmore-style ballrooms to suburban arenas. At a glance, it seemed like there was a market for more modest rock concert venues nearer to where teenage rock fans actually lived, and well-to-do, populous Long Island seemed like a perfect place to find out.
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| Turn 2 at Islip Speedway, W. Islip, NY. Bobby Allison won this NASCAR Grand National race on July 16, 1966 (from the Islip Speedway History Site) |
Islip Speedway
In the '60s and '70s, the expansion of the rock concert market was dependent on new uses for existing venues. Big band dance halls (like the Fillmore and Fillmore West) or old vaudeville houses (like the Fillmore East) anchored the first wave of concert venues. As the rock concert business got larger, sports venues came into play. Advances in sound reproduction could make up for the poor acoustics of a concrete hockey arena or basketball gym. Thus the search to expand the rock concert industry was always a search for facilities that could be re-purposed. In general, these buildings were usually some sort of entertainment venue already.
Islip, New York was a relatively major city in Long Island. From 1960 to 1970, Islip had grown from a population of 170,000 to 280,000. Located on the South shore of Suffolk County, Islip is just 60 miles from Manhattan, yet still two hours away. It is more or less on the edge of range where commuting to the City is still viable, as Eastern Long Island is more resort-oriented. Islip Speedway was in the hamlet of West Islip (between Freeman Avenue and Brookville, and between Sunrise Higway {NY-27} and the Southern State Parkway, but West of Islip Avenue). The Speedway had first opened in 1947.
Auto Racing, like all professional sports, has its own system of major and minor leagues. Islip Speedway was definitely in the minors, a tiny oval track (just 2/10 mile, only 320 metres) that served as a feeder system to the larger USAC (Indianapolis) and NASCAR (Daytona) franchises. NASCAR, although rooted in the South, always had an interest in expanding stock car racing into the Northeast. Thus the Islip Speedway held a NASCAR Grand National race (the top series) from 1964 to '71, the smallest track to host a Grand National. NASCAR winners at Islip included Richard Petty and Bobby Allison. After 1971, NASCAR removed all the "short-track" races from the Grand National championship, so Islip Speedway was no longer on the schedule.
Despite being tiny, Islip Speedway has some place in auto racing history. It was the site of the first Demolition Derby in 1958. It also had a "Figure 8" configuration, where the track crossed over itself in the middle of the infield. ABC's Wide World Of Sports broadcast Demolition Derbies and Figure 8 Racing from Islip. Although Demolition Derbies are now largely absent from the American sporting landscape, the casual destruction inherent in them holds a strange sway over the American imagination, and it all started at Islip Speedway.
Islip Speedway, like just about all postwar local racetracks, would usually have racing one weekend night a week. The local drivers would come out on Friday or Saturday and race for fun and prize money. The rest of the week they would work on their cars, usually repairing the previous week's damage. A few more serious drivers went from track to track, trying to beat out the locals. Here and there one of the locals would turn out to have real skill, and climb up the ladder in NASCAR. There were more such success stories in the South, however, than in Long Island. Islip was out in Suffolk County, and when the track was built, land was cheaper and a noisy race track on Friday night wasn't getting in anyone's way.
By 1970, however, even Suffolk County was getting crowded, particularly near the shoreline. There's no doubt that the NASCAR race was the biggest event of the season, and when it left, the track was surely looking for some other big event. Rock concerts may have seemed to fit the bill--certainly numerous race tracks around the country, large and small, tried rock and roll on for size.
July 6, 1973 Islip Speedway, West Islip, NY: Chuck Berry/The Shirelles/The Belmonts/The Drifters/Charles Frazier's New Day/Screaming Jay Hawkins (Friday) Dizak Promotions, Inc presents
Back in July of 1973, promoter Bruce Zaktzer had teamed with Diamond Productions to produce a "Rock-and-Roll Revival" show at the Islip Speedway. The headliners were Chuck Berry, the Shirelles and the Drifters. Given that those acts had their hits in the 1950s and early 60s, they would have appealed to people who were then about 30-some years old. A lot of 30-year olds were married and lived in the suburbs. A suburb like Islip was full of moms and dads who recalled dancing to Chuck Berry. Many of them were probably racing fans, too, so they knew where the Islip Speedway was, how to get there and where to park.
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| Livingston Taylor on stage in front of a thin crowd at Islip Speedway on July 7 '74 (from Newsday July 8) |
July 7, 1974 Islip Speedway, Islip, NY: Richie Havens/Brewer & Shipley/Roger McGuinn/Maureen McGovern/John Lee Hooker/Livingston Taylor/David Peel (Sunday) L.I. Summer Festival
According to Newsday writer Robert Christgau, the Revival show was a success, so 23-year-old Steve Diamond of Sage Productions had a new plan for the Summer of '74. Robert Christgau is best known today as the long-time rock critic from the Village Voice, but in the early '70s he was also the full-time rock writer for Newsday. Newsday was Long Island's daily newspaper, published out of Hempstead and focusing on Suffolk and Nassau counties as well as the City. Newsday had one of the largest circulations (in the top 10 nationally) of a daily paper in the United States. The paper also won numerous Pulitzer Prizes and other awards, so the reach and impact of Newsday was substantial.
The actual concert was a financial debacle. Christgau had a dour assessment of the concert. It wasn't a good venue, and there wasn't much of a crowd. Christgau reviewed the concert the day after (July 8), and he included a detailed look at producer Steve Diamond and the rock music market in Long Island. According to Christgau, in a place that could have absorbed 20,000 fans, just 8,000 would have been break-even. But there were no more than 3,000 at Islip Speedway on that July day, and that included many people who had free tickets. Christgau estimated a minimum loss of $32,500, real money back then. Remember that back in 1974, you could buy a house in Long Island for that kind of money.
Christgau mapped out how Steve Diamond's assumptions about the Long Island rock audience were wrong
The Foundering of A Rock Festival-Robert Christgau (Newsday July 8 1974)
Steve Diamond is a 23-year old hotshot insurance salesman from Baldwin. He is a graduate of Bryant College in Rhode Island, where he was Vice President of his class and and president of Hillel, and set a team record in bowling. Last summer, he produced a very successful oldies concert at Islip Speedway.
The plan had been so simple: Sage Productions Inc, comprising Diamond and three friends, including Bruce Zaktzer, who had co-produced Diamond's Chuck Berry-Shirelles-Drifters concert last July, would hire six high quality acts and sell tickets for $6.50, which they could do because they wouldn't hire superstars. People the promoters knew were sick of Nassau Coliseum, called it Nausea Coliseum, one act plus filler at rip-off prices. This would be a more modest event with across the board appeal centered around folk-style music. Call it a festival...
Sage got terrible promotion and could not afford an advertising blitz. By calling the affair a festival, they gave the town of Islip totally unwarranted nightmares about Woodstock and Watkins Glen, which meant they could not schedule the music to begin at, say, 6 pm. Although the weather was sunny, it might might have been cooler. But the reason they gave a rock festival and nobody came was that there were no superstars there.
Despite appearances, American adolescents do not love to sit around hot asphalt and listen to music. The experience they seek at festivals is a transcendent one--and superstars, who more-than-professional music transcends the hot asphalt by providing an identity that can focus the collective ego of a massive crowd.
Christgau's analysis was well ahead of its time. In particular, he correctly assesses why rock fans liked going to large concerts with legendary stars, and still do: they enjoy the community of fellow fans. While everyone complains about big venues, the alternative isn't to go to a medium-sized venue. By the early 1970s, many rock fans were of drinking age, and happy to consider seeing a band they liked in a nightclub, with a seat and a chance to buy a drink or two. Sitting in the hot sun to see a second-level act? Not so much.
There's also a very gendered angle to 1970s rock crowds that's rarely noted. Outdoor concerts with loud rock bands were the province of young men. Sometimes these young men brought their girlfriends--well, if they had one--but those girlfriends stayed attached at the hip to their dates. You can hardly have blamed them--what with a giant arena or football field full of stoned long-haired guys staring at them. It wasn't a conducive social situation for women, even when they music wasn't playing. Even bands like the Grateful Dead, whose audience had far less macho posturing than, say, Johnny Winter, had a profoundly male audience.
Women liked rock music in the 1970s, of course, but they much preferred shows where everyone had a seat, and there wasn't any license for other patrons to get too close. This meant either auditoriums with reserved seats or nightclubs with tables. The fact was, a lot of young men were going to take a date (whether girlfriend or not) to see, say, Joni Mitchell at a college auditorium, but was going to go with his male roommates to see the likes of Ten Years After at a hockey arena.
The folk-rock acts at Islip Speedway made good candidates bring your girlfriend or a date, but saying "do you want to sit on asphalt in the sun all Sunday afternoon?" isn't a great selling point. This wasn't a reflection on the quality of the music itself, but there's a reason that big outdoor shows in the early 1970s featured boogieing guitar bands and not quiet harmony singing.
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| A 2015 Aerial view of the site of Islip Speedway (Freeman Ave at W Beech St) |
Summary
There were a lot of young rock fans in Long Island who wanted to see live music, and they weren't being fully served by more than just an occasional high profile show at the local hockey arena. West Islip was a central location, and Islip Speedway was eligible for re-purposing, and needed the revenue. But it wasn't a good idea. Hot asphalt doesn't make for a relaxing afternoon, and rock fans want an intimate experience or a mass fellowship, but not in between.
I have looked at a lot of '70s rock concerts at auto racing facilities, and how they could have easily been converted to viable part-time rock concert venues. Islip Speedway wasn't one of those places, however. For all the eager rock fans in Long Island, the Speedway wasn't a good fit for rock. I'm not aware of any other rock concerts there. The facility closed for good in 1984, swallowed by the explosive growth of Suffolk County.
Appendix 1: Robert Christgau article, Newsday (Hempstead, NY) July 8, 1974
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Richie Havens' Mixed Bag II album, released on his own Stormy Forest Records (Havens' debut, Mixed Bag, had been released by Verve Records in 1966) |
Richie Havens had been releasing albums since 1966, but his appearance in the Woodstock movie had given him a much wider audience than he had previously had. Havens wasn't a conventional folk singer, as he mixed jazz and blues into his music, and was usually backed by a small combo. In 1971, Havens' cover of the Beatles "Here Comes The Sun" reached #16 on Billboard. His most recent album had been 1974's Mixed Bag II, released on his own imprint Stormy Forest (Mixed Bag had been his classic Verve Records debut album from 1966).
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| "One Toke Over The Line," by Brewer & Shipley, released as a single in March 1971 (from the late 1970 Tarkio album on Kama Sutra Records) |
Tom Brewer and Mike Shipley were from Kansas, but they had gotten together as a singer/songwriter duo in California in 1968. Their best known hit was "One Toke Over The Line," from Tarkio, their third album on Kama Sutra Records, recorded in San Francisco. The song would reach #10 on the Billboard charts in Spring 1971. By 1974, Brewer & Shipley had moved to Capitol, releasing their sixth album ST11261 (a joke on the album's label code). In '74, Capitol had recorded the duo in Los Angeles instead of San Francisco, although the pair had moved back to the Midwest by this time anyway. Brewer & Shipley sometimes toured with a small band, and sometimes just as a folk duo. I'm not sure which configuration they were using here.
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| A bootleg cd of Roger McGuinn live at Islip Speedway, recorded on July 7 1974 |
Roger McGuinn had led the Byrds from 1965 through 1973. The Byrds had been one of the best-selling acts in Columbia Records history, and their place in rock history was assured. The Byrds went through numerous incarnations as the original members left, but the quality of the latter Byrds albums was still quite high, as McGuinn had teamed with the great guitarist Clarence White. The original five Byrds had re-formed in early 1973, but their much-hyped album had been disappointing. McGuinn had gone solo, releasing his initial Columbia solo album on June 1973.
Though McGuinn was always well-reviewed, thanks to the Byrds' heritage, American rock fans weren't ready to revisit their own history. McGuinn toured with a band, and they played pretty well, but McGuinn's album and tours attracted little attention. By 1974, it made more sense to tour solo, although much of his set was played on electric 12-string guitar. In September 1974, McGuinn would release his second solo album on Columbia, Peace On You, although it was no more successful than his first one.
McGuinn's set at Islip Speedway was recorded, possibly legitimately, and it may have been broadcast on Long Island's rock station, WLIR-fm. As a result, McGuinn's set was widely bootlegged. The various mostly "European" releases remain as the only real hint of the Islip event.
1. I'm So Restless (2:56)
2. My Back Pages (2:25)
3. Bag Full Of Money (3:09)
4. Chimes Of Freedom (2:44)
5. Ballad Of Easy Rider (1:22)
6. Wasn't Born To Follow (2:07)
7. Take A Whiff On Me (2:38)
8. Old Blue (3:00)
9. Mr. Tambourine Man (2:38)
10. Eight Miles High (2:44)
11. Mr. Spaceman (2:13)
12. So You Want To Be A Rock 'n' Roll Star (2:18)
13. 5D (Fifth Dimension) (2:51)
14. Lover Of The Bayou (2:31)
15. Bells Of Rhymney (3:46)
16. Chestnut Mare (4:52)
17. Better Change (2:27)
18. Do What You Want To Do (2:36)
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| The Morning After, by Maureen McGovern, released on 20th Century Records in July 1973 |
Maureen McGovern had scored far and away the biggest hit of anyone on the bill at Islip Speedway. Her song "Morning After" ("There's got to be a morning after/"), released in May 1973 had been the theme song to the massive hit movie The Poseidon Adventure. The song, in turn was a massive hit single as well, reaching #1. By 1974, McGovern had released her follow up album Nice To Be Around (20th Century Records). The ubiquitous nature of AM hits in the early 1970s was such that it was safe to say that every single person at the Islip Speedway that day, fan or performer, could sing along with the chorus of "Morning After," whether or not they liked the song or Maureen McGovern.
Another peculiar fact of AM success in that era was that popular songs did not always correlate to selling concert tickets. Many people must have liked Maureen McGovern's music, because her song was a big hit, but those same people were necessarily likely to want to see her in concert. In Robert Christgau's review, the promoters lamented the booking of McGovern, wishing instead that they had booked Maria Muldaur. Granted, Maria had a big hit at the time ("Midnight At The Oasis" had reached #13 earlier in 1974), but the promoters thought more Long Island hippies would have come out to see her.
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| Free Beer And Chicken-John Lee Hooker (ABC Records, 1974) |
John Lee Hooker (1912-2001) was from Mississippi, via Memphis and Detroit. He had been recording since 1948, and had gained notoriety in the '60s, when bands like The Animals and Canned Heat had made some of his songs famous, like "Boom Boom" or "Boogie Chillen." In the mid-70s, however, he was at a low ebb, as were most classic bluesmen at the time. Hooker's 1974 album was Free Beer and Chicken, on ABC, which included star guests like Joe Cocker and The Tower of Power horns. Hooker would then have a long lull where he would not release new material until about 1979.
Hooker, besides lending a crucial air of authenticity, was of course finely equipped to rock out a crowd at a race track. Boogie bands like Canned Heat or Cactus owed their sound and feel to Hooker, and he was the real deal. Christgau described Hooker's brief set as "incandescent."
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| Over The Rainbow-Livingston Taylor (Capricorn Records 1973) |
Livingston Taylor was two years younger than his brother James. Livingston had gotten started as a folksinger in the Cambridge, MA scene in the '60s. He played in a bluesier style than his older brother. Livingston, managed by Don Law, signed to Capricorn Records, the Allman Brothers Band's label, and had released his first (self-titled) album sometime in 1970. By 1973, Livingston had released his third album on Capricorn, Over The Rainbow. It was recorded in Georgia with various players who were part of the Macon scene (such as pianist Chuck Leavell). His brother James and his wife Carly Simon also appeared on the album. Livingston Taylor was pretty good, actually, perhaps not great, but he was now overshadowed by the massive success of James. He probably performed solo.
David Peel was one of those guys who got signed by Elektra Records in 1968 back when record companies would just sign anyone, in case they got lucky. Peel was sort of in the angry-folkie mode of The Fugs, albeit (to me) less creative. His first album was called Have A Marijuana, pretty racy stuff for 1968. Peel was backed by a sort of skiffle group called The Lower East Side. Peel fell in with John Lennon, who apparently liked his defiant attitude, and Peel's album The Pope Smokes Dope was released on Apple Records in 1972. Peel's 1974 album was called Santa Claus Rooftop Junkie (on Orange Records).
Notorious as he was, Peel wasn't exactly a memorable songwriter. I'll concede I could still sing along with "Have A Marijuana" from the first album, were it ever to be played on the radio--which it won't be--but Peel's songs aren't the stuff that dreams were made of.
Grateful Dead Performances At Race Tracks 1968-88
Ontario Motor Speedway, Ontario, CA April 6, 1974: ELP/Deep Purple/Eagles (California Jam)
Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway, Nashville, TN 1972-77
Lebanon Speedway, W Lebanon, NY: 1973-77
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