2504 San Pablo Avenue, Berkeley, CA: The Long Branch Performance History October-December 1973 (Long Branch III)

The Long Branch, 2504 San Pablo in Berkeley, some time in the 1970s

By the end of 1973, live rock music was booming, and as rock audiences aged, rock nightclubs became more viable. Once rock fans were of drinking age, spending too much time in a large, dark cavern with thousands or tens of thousands people didn't seem as rockin' as relaxing with a cold drink in a place where you could actually see the stage. If you were on a date, or hoping to meet someone, the attraction of a rock club was even more pronounced. If two people liked the same band, or the same kind of music, you were both halfway there to getting together.  Rock nightclubs started to thrive in almost every big city and near every college campus. Berkeley was no exception. 

The Long Branch, at 2504 San Pablo Avenue (at Dwight), had opened in May 1971. The venue had been a music club going back to 1962. As the Cabale Creamery, it had been Berkeley's essential stop for traveling folk musicians. It was at the Cabale where Jerry Garcia saw the Jim Kweskin Jug Band, and the Cabale was a regular date for Clarence White and the Kentucky Colonels, too. Later, in early 1966, as the Questing Beast, 2504 San Pablo was the place where Country Joe McDonald and Barry Melton first plugged in to amplifiers as Country Joe & The Fish. Later still, it became Tito's (1967-68) and then Babylon (1969-70). In 1971, former Avalon Ballroom staffer Malcolm Williams took over the venue, doubled the capacity to 350 and re-opened it as the Long Branch Saloon. I wrote a post about the club's first seven months in 1971, and then another post about acts playing the first half of 1972. By the end of 1973, the Long Branch was well-established on the Berkeley rock scene, booking bands six or seven nights a week. 

Now, in the East Bay, the top rock night club was the Keystone Berkeley, right next to the University of California campus. The Keystone was right in downtown Berkeley at 2119 University Avenue (at Shattuck Avenue). On weekends, the Keystone booked popular local acts like Jerry Garcia, Elvin Bishop and Tower Of Power, and touring acts as well, plu some smaller acts on weeknights. Keystone drew crowds from all over Berkeley and Oakland, and even Marin and San Francisco. Parking wasn't difficult in downtown Berkeley--amazing as that may seem today--so the club attracted a wide audience. 

The Long Branch, meanwhile, was 2 miles West and South of campus. The Branch drew mostly from the neighborhoods near the club, and it was as much a hangout as a destination. We have a good picture of what was happening at the club then because former Long Branch publicist Lydia Frazier Bosley was kind enough to send scans of long lost flyers. Frazier herself made the flyers for the Long Branch, and helped distribute them around the East Bay. With these, we can get a great look at who played the club in 1973 and '74, and how that defined the economics of the scene at the time

Since the same bands played the Long Branch over and over--that was the whole point--I am just focusing on the last three months of 1973, to avoid needless repetition. Anyone with additional information, insights, corrections and real or imagined memories, please include them in the Comments. Flashbacks encouraged. 

Scan of the back of a Long Branch flyer, October 1973

The Long Branch was a hangout, but a hangout that booked rock bands and wanted its patrons to dance. But it mainly wanted them to hang out. Admission was cheap, and often free, and beer was often cheap, too. The goal was to get the locals to come early and stay late. They would likely meet people who lived nearby, and make friends, and maybe dance and perhaps even get married. The back of one of the flyers (above) explains the attractions of the Long Branch:

Howdy...we'd like to turn you on to the LONG BRANCH Saloon, Berkeley's Hot Nite Spot famed for it's FINE ROCK & ROLL and Good Vibes

The Club opens at 8pm Tues-Sun, and if you come before 9 pm, the admission is half-price. Also on Tues-Wed-Thurs-Sun, BEER will cost 10c a glass between 8 and 9pm.

Since our fuss ball games are so popular we have plans to expand and add some new games like POOL, PONG & AIR HOCKEY.

Meanwhile, as always we'll entice you onto the DANCE floor with some to the hottest young bands around. Really the MUSIC is outstanding, terrific and wonderful.

The LONG BRANCH is a great place to hang out, meet friends, get high and treat yourself to PRIMO ROCK & ROLL. Come on down and check it out.

THE LONG BRANCH call us to find out what's happening
2504 SAN PABLO at DWIGHT 848-9696

The doors usually opened at 8:00pm at the Long Branch, but the Examiner and other papers reported the bands as starting at 9:30. That meant a lot of people were there only to hang out. Since many nights were free admission, or close to it, the band wasn't necessarily the main attraction for every patron.

The Long Branch had a very different approach to booking than other contemporary Bay Area rock clubs. Clubs like the Keystone Berkeley typically had the most popular local acts once a month, a lot of touring bands coming through, and filled in the other dates with more local bands. The Long Branch, however, pretty much had the same bands every week. There were three "house bands" that played almost every week (Earth Quake, The Rockets and Grayson Street), and new bands added to the mix would play the same night for an entire month. As far as I know, the regular Long Branch bands all had large repertoires, typically including a lot of cover versions, so their fans didn't hear the same set every week.

October, 1973 flyer for The Long Branch, 2504 San Pablo Avenue (designed by and courtesy of Lydia Frazier Bosley). Note that there is no Area Code for the phone number, because Berkeley, San Francisco and the entire Bay Area North of San Jose used the 415 Area Code.

October 1, 1973 Long Branch, Berkeley, CA: The Rockets (Sunday)
The Rockets had been playing the Long Branch since January 1972, and mostly just played the club. Lead singer Eddie Mahoney was a transplanted NYPD cop trainee. Guitarist Dan Alexander, bassist Chris Sohlberg and drummer John Cuniberti were all from Berkeley. All of the Rockets went on to some success in the music industry. Cuniberti and Alexander were successful on the production side, Sohlberg played with many artists, and Mahoney went on to huge success as Eddie Money ("Two Tickets To Paradise," "Baby, Hold On To Me").

October 3, 1973 Long Branch, Berkeley, CA: Audition Night (Wednesday)
The calendar says "surprise night," but Wednesdays was the night to give new bands a chance to play. The Long Branch wasn't high on the Bay Area rock food chain, and many bands got their first break at the Branch. Keep in mind that it was all but impossible for penniless new bands to make a listenable tape, even of a live performance, and they generally had to lug their gear to a club and actually play a set in order to get heard by a club owner.

October 4, 1973 Long Branch, Berkeley, CA: Asleep At The Wheel/Alice Stuart & Snake (Thursday)
October 5, 1973 Long Branch, Berkeley, CA: Asleep At The Wheel/Clover (Friday)
Asleep At The Wheel was a hippie Western Swing band from the DC area, based in Paw Paw, WV. In Fall 1971, they had opened in West Virginia for Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen, perhaps the only band remotely like them, and the Cody crew encouraged them to move to Berkeley. On October 8 & 9, 1971, Asleep At The Wheel had opened for Cody and the Airmen at the Long Branch. By December 10, 1971, they were headlining the Branch. Asleep At The Wheel had played relentlessly throughout the Bay Area ever since, building a crowd in all the clubs around.

By 1973, Asleep At The Wheel had released their first album, Comin' Right At Ya (on United Artists). The Wheel was managed by Joe Kerr, who also managed Cody and the New Riders of The Purple Sage, giving him a big chunk of the San Francisco country-rock sound.

Alice Stuart and Snake's Believing album (Fantasy Records 1972)

Alice Stuart was a blues guitarist and singer, originally from Seattle, who had moved to the Bay Area in 1964. Initially a solo, she had "gone electric" around 1970, and formed her trio Alice Stuart & Snake. Drummer Bob Jones (ex-We Five, ex-Mike Bloomfield, ex-Southern Comfort) shared vocals with Stuart, and bassist Karl Sevareid completed the band. In 1972, Fantasy had released the Believing album. Fantasy released a single in 1973 (with tracks from the album), and Snake stayed together until at least 1974, but the band was never able to get much traction. Nonetheless, Stuart continued a successful solo career well into the 21st century. 

Joe Kerr's business card when he managed Clover, ca 1973

Clover had been founded in Mill Valley in 1969, an outgrowth of the band Tiny Hearing Aid Company. As a quartet, Clover had released two albums on Fantasy in 1970 and '71. Fantasy had dropped them, but the band had since added two additional members. By this time, Clover had Alex Call as the main lead singer, Huey (Cregg) Louis on vocals and harmonica, John McFee on lead and pedal steel guitar, Sean Hopper on keyboards, John Ciambotti on bass and Mickey Shine on drums. Joe Kerr also managed Clover.

Why Don't You Try Me, Earth Quake's second album on A&M Records, released in 1972

October 6, 1973 Long Branch, Berkeley, CA: Earth Quake (Saturday)
Earth Quake, from Berkeley, were the ultimate Long Branch band. The band had played the opening night of the Long Branch on May 28, 1971. Originally, they had been a Berkeley High band called Purple Earthquake. The members of Earth Quake had met Long Branch proprietor Malcolm Williams back in the 1960s, when he had been promoting shows at Maple Hall in nearby San Pablo. By 1971, they had been a quartet, with Robbie Dunbar on lead guitar, lead vocalist John Doukas, bassist Stan Miller and drummer Steve Nelson. Earth Quake would release their debut album on A&M Records sometime that year. Earth Quake would play the Long Branch at least every month for five years, and in many cases every Friday night.

In contrast to most Bay Area bands, who typically played longer songs in an improvised blues style, Earth Quake had been inspired by British Invasion bands like The Who and Small Faces. In 1972, A&M Records had released the second Earth Quake album, Why Don't You Try Me. The album didn't go anywhere, and A&M dropped the band. Besides their original material, however, Earth Quake had a huge trove of relatively obscure covers (like The Easybeats "Friday On My Mind"), so they were still endlessly engaging to their local fans in Berkeley. At least some of the members of Earth Quake, possibly all of them, lived in Berkeley. Earth Quake were the "house band" at the Long Branch if anyone was.

Once the band had been dropped by A&M, Earth Quake's imaginative manager Mathew "King" Kaufman had the idea that they should release their own records. Although against any kind of record business orthodoxy at the time, Kaufman created Beserkley Records, and started releasing 45 rpm singles on a shoestring. The quixotic label's first production was a single of "Mr Security," by Earth Quake, released on October 11, 1973. Unlikely as it may have seemed, and although it took a few years, Beserkley Records turned out to be hugely successful. Kaufman anticipated the punk rock/Indy label surge years before it happened elsewhere.

Grayson Street band, ca Fall 1973 (promo photo from December 23 '73 Examiner)

October 7, 1973 Long Branch, Berkeley, CA: Grayson Street (Sunday)
Grayson Street was named after a short street in Berkeley that ran from Aquatic Park to San Pablo Avenue, terminating four blocks south of Dwight Way and San Pablo, the site of the Long Branch. Grayson Street played the Branch just about every week from 1972 through 1975, sometimes more than once a week. They, too, were a house band.  

Grayson Street was fronted by saxophonist Terry Hanck and harmonica player Rick Kellogg, both of whom sang, and played in a funky blues style that was good for dancing. They had been formed before 1972, but their first advertised show at the Long Branch was June 24, 1972. In late '72, Grayson Street had included Berkeley High's Lenny Pickett, previously in the band Linx. By 1973, however, Pickett had joined Tower of Power. Grayson Street was full of experienced musicians. Guitarist Tim Kaihatsu and organist Clay Cotton had both played extensively with Charlie Musselwhite and other blues musicians. Kellogg had played harmonica for Elvin Bishop for a while, and Kellogg and bassist John Knight had been in Linx (with Pickett). Drummer John Otis rounded out the band.

Also in the band in Fall '73 was singer Jo Baker, who had been in The Elvin Bishop Group from 1970-73. Bishop and Baker had been a couple, having met a jam session in Boston in 1967 (Baker had been in the group Clouds, and Bishop had been with the Butterfield Blues Band). In mid-1973, Baker and Bishop had split up personally and musically. 

Grayson Street pretty much confined its performances to the East Bay, but most of the members went on to thriving musical careers. Terry Hanck would tour with Elvin Bishop for many years, Kaihatsu (1945-2014) would tour and record with Robert Cray, Clay Cotton was a popular club attraction in the Bay Area for decades and Jo Baker would join the revived Stoneground in early 1974.

October 10, 1973 Long Branch, Berkeley, CA: Audition Night (Wednesday) 

October 11, 1973 Long Branch, Berkeley, CA: Rubin & The Rubinoos (Thursday)
Rubin & The Rubinoos were led by singer (and rhythm guitarist) Jon Rubin, and guitarist Tommy Dunbar. Tommy was the younger brother of Earthquake's Robbie Dunbar, so it was no surprise they were getting a chance at the Branch.  The Rubinoos played short, poppy rock songs with hooks and harmonies, completely at odds with any other Berkeley bands at that time. 

The Modern Lovers album Live At The Long Branch, released in 1998, and recorded at the Branch on April 21, 1972. The Modern Lovers were in California attempting to record an album for Warners.

October 12, 1973 Long Branch, Berkeley, CA: Earth Quake/The Modern Lovers (Friday)
The Modern Lovers were from Boston, and their sound was modeled on the Velvet Underground. They had been signed by Warner Brothers, and in early '72 the label had flown them out to Los Angeles to record demos with John Cale. Thus the Modern Lovers had played a show at the Long Branch on April 21, 1972, opening for Earth Quake, one of their few shows outside of the Boston area (a recording of the show was released in 1998). The Modern Lovers at this time were a quartet, with songwriter Jonathan Richman on guitar and vocals, future Talking Head Jerry Harrison on organ, Ernie Brooks on bass and drummer Dave Robinson (later in The Cars).

Richman became well-known for his lively, innocent acoustic sound, but this version of the Modern Lovers was dark and loud. Warner Brothers had flown the band back out to LA in 1973 to record more demos (which were later released), but the Modern Lovers never managed to complete an album for the label. Ultimately Richman would achieve international success after he moved to Berkeley and recorded for Beserkely Records, the label started by Earth Quake's manager.

October 13, 1973 Long Branch, Berkeley, CA: The Rockets/The Modern Lovers (Saturday)
On Saturday night, the Modern Lovers opened for The Rockets. Jonathan Richman opening for Eddie Money--that didn't happen again. Must have been a memorably bizarre evening.

October 14, 1973 Long Branch, Berkeley, CA: Grayson Street (Sunday)

October 16, 1973 Long Branch, Berkeley, CA: Rubin & The Rubinoos (Tuesday)

October 17, 1973 Long Branch, Berkeley, CA: Audition Night (Wednesday) 

October 18, 1973 Long Branch, Berkeley, CA: Off The Wall (Thursday)
Off The Wall are unknown to me. 

Good N Cheap, Eggs Over Easy (A&M, 1972)

October 19, 1973 Long Branch, Berkeley, CA: Alice Stuart & Snake/Eggs Over Easy (Friday)
Opening act Eggs Over Easy featured three New Yorkers, two of whom (guitarist Jack O'Hara and pianist Austin De Lone) had met in Berkeley in 1970. They had released one album for A&M in 1972, Good N' Cheap. Most people had not (nor have not) heard the album. Nonetheless, Eggs Over Easy played a significant role in the history of English rock, and not by coincidence, and their Wikipedia entry is well-deserved.

DeLone and O'Hara had returned to New York in 1970, where they met Brien Hopkins and formed Eggs Over Easy as a no-drummer trio (all three played various instruments). Their manager had English connections, so when the band was signed they went to record at Olympic Studios in Barnes, London. Recording was completed by January 1971. There were management issues, however, and they were advised to stay in London while it got sorted. Eggs Over Easy played a few college gigs (with ex-Animal John Steel on drums). The trio took a house in Kentish Town, in North London, near a large pub called The Tally Ho.

The Tally-Ho had a "jazz-only" policy for performers, a common restriction of London Pubs at the time. Eggs Over Easy, used to playing in bars in the States, persuaded the Tally Ho to let them perform. They debuted at the Tally Ho in May 1971 (with Steel on drums), and started to draw large crowds. Ultimately they were playing three nights and Sunday afternoon at the Tally Ho, and drawing huge crowds. Nick Lowe and other members of his band (Brinsley Schwarz) regularly joined them on stage. Eggs Over Easy single-handedly invented "Pub Rock," and a wave of groups like Brinsley Schwarz followed them throughout England. Eggs Over Easy became a sort of underground sensation, but the band played their last show in England on November 7, 1971

Ultimately Eggs Over Easy's album recorded in London was never released, and the band returned to the States. Their debut A&M album included new recordings of what they had done in England. In 1973, they returned to the Bay Area, and Eggs Over Easy toured the US with major bands (like The Yes and The Eagles), but never got traction. The band struggled on until 1981, but despite their legendary status they never got any honor in their own country.

October 20, 1973 Long Branch, Berkeley, CA: Earth Quake/Rubinoos (Saturday)
Rubin & The Rubinoos would shorten their name to just The Rubinoos by the end of the year.

October 21, 1973 Long Branch, Berkeley, CA: Grayson Street (Sunday)

October 23, 1973 Long Branch, Berkeley, CA: Rubin & The Rubinoos (Tuesday)

October 24, 1973 Long Branch, Berkeley, CA: Audition Night (Wednesday) 

October 25, 1973 Long Branch, Berkeley, CA: Swan (Thursday)
Swan are unknown to me.  

October 26, 1973 Long Branch, Berkeley, CA: Perry And The Pumpers (Friday)
Perry And The Pumpers was a blues band led by harmonica player Perry Welsh. They often backed up touring blues musicians. Welsh was from Cedar Rapids, IA, and had moved to San Francisco in 1967. He was friendly with another Iowa transplant, organist Stephen Miller. Miller had been in the band Linn County in the 60s, and his organ anchored the Elvin Bishop Group from 1970-73. Welsh recorded with Bishop and Miller on two Bishop Group albums (1970's Feel It and 1972's Rock My Soul).

Bishop sat in with Perry And The Pumpers on occasion. As far as I know, some members of Perry And The Pumpers ended up in the 1974 edition of the Elvin Bishop Group, including guitarist Johnny Vernazza, pianist Phil Aaberg and bassist Fly Brooks, while Welsh and Stephen Miller returned to Iowa.

October 27, 1973 Long Branch, Berkeley, CA: Dave Brown Resurrection/Big Art and The Trashmasters (Saturday)
Both Dave Brown Resurrection and Big Art and The Trashmasters are unknown to me. There was a local musician (a bass player and producer) named Dave Brown, but I don't know if this was his band. From peripheral evidence I think The Trashmasters were a sort of Long Branch All-Stars group from other "house" bands. "Big Art's" was also the name of a Berkeley club in the basement of LaVal's Pizza (near Hearst & Euclid, on Northside).

October 28, 1973 Long Branch, Berkeley, CA: Grayson Street (Sunday)

October 30, 1973 Long Branch, Berkeley, CA: Rubin & The Rubinoos (Tuesday)

October 31, 1973 Long Branch, Berkeley, CA: Earth Quake/Rockets (Wednesday) 3rd Annual Hootchie Kootchie Ball
Halloween was always a Big Deal in Berkeley, so it's no surprise that two of the house bands played it.

November 1973 flyer for The Long Branch at 2504 San Pablo Avenue in Berkeley (flyer designed by and courtesy of Lydia Frazier Bosley)

November 1, 1973 Long Branch, Berkeley, CA: Chains (Thursday) free
Chains are unknown to me. 

November 2, 1973 Long Branch, Berkeley, CA: Grayson Street (Friday)

November 3, 1973 Long Branch, Berkeley, CA: Copperhead/Earth Quake (Saturday)
Copperhead had been formed in late 1971 by ex-Quicksilver Messenger Service guitarist John Cipollina. They had gone through a number of personnel changes, but by mid-1972 the lineup had stabilized. Cippolina was joined by pianist and singer Jim McPherson (ex-Stained Glass), who was the principal songwriter, guitarist Gary Phillipet, bassist Hutch Hutchinson and drummer David Weber. The band had a harder sound than Quicksilver, with more of an R&B feel. Columbia records signed the band, and they had released their debut album in Spring 1973. Copperhead played all the Bay Area clubs, but they had not yet toured Nationally.

Unfortunately, Clive Davis was pushed out as CEO of Columbia Records in the Summer of 1973. Many of the Bay Area bands signed by Clive, including Copperhead (as well as the Sons Of Champlin, the Rowan Brothers and David Rea) were dumped by the label. Copperhead had a local following in the clubs, but their album was left high and dry. They would break up by the end of the year.

November 4, 1973 Long Branch, Berkeley, CA: Grayson Street (Sunday)

November 5, 1973 Long Branch, Berkeley, CA: Rockets (Monday) free
The fact that the flyer lists some weeknight shows as free is an indicator that the principal weeknight business of the Long Branch was selling beer to the locals. 

November 6, 1973 Long Branch, Berkeley, CA: Rubin & The Rubinoos (Tuesday)

November 7, 1973 Long Branch, Berkeley, CA: Swan (Wednesday)

November 8, 1973 Long Branch, Berkeley, CA: Chains (Thursday) free

The Tubes at Winterland ca 1974, with Fee Waybill as Quay Lewd, probably singing "White Punks On Dope"

November 9-10, 1973 Long Branch, Berkeley, CA: The Tubes/Spotlight (Friday-Saturday)
The Tubes had only formed around March, 1972. Most of the band members were from Phoenix, AZ. Initially, guitarist Bill Spooner, keyboard player Vince Welnick and bassist Rick Andersen had been in a popular Phoenix band called The Beans. The Beans had moved to San Francisco in Fall 1970. They had played numerous local gigs, but hadn't really made much headway. After some band members left the Beans, it had turned out that another popular Phoenix band had lost some members, so guitarist Roger Steen and drummer Prairie Prince had relocated to San Francisco to join The Beans. Their roadie John "Fiji" Waldo was added as lead singer, and The Tubes were born.

The Tubes played a sort of progressive rock rather than modified blues. They also had a fairly elaborate stage show, which was pretty much unheard of at the time. Initially, of course, their props were just cardboard and confetti, but they were a performing band from the beginning. The Tubes had first played the Long Branch on June 4, 1972, and periodically returned. By late '73, there was an underground buzz about them. They played a lot of gigs in gay bars, which were quite lucrative but not advertised in the mainstream press. In the early 70s, gay culture was the source of style and cool in the Bay Area, so the Tubes managed to always be right on the cutting edge of that cool. On June 1, 1973, the unknown Tubes had opened for Led Zeppelin at Kezar Stadium (fifth on the the bill), which for the wider Bay Area was the first time rock fans would even hear of them (this included me). 

Spotlight is unknown to me.

November 11, 1973 Long Branch, Berkeley, CA: Grayson Street (Sunday)

November 13, 1973 Long Branch, Berkeley, CA: Rubin & The Rubinoos/Above & Beyond (Tuesday)
Above & Beyond are unknown to me. 

November 14, 1973 Long Branch, Berkeley, CA: Swan (Wednesday)

November 15, 1973 Long Branch, Berkeley, CA: Chains (Thursday) free

November 16-17, 1973 Long Branch, Berkeley, CA: Sutro Sympathy Orchestra/Enola Faye Moss [16 only] (Friday-Saturday)
Sutro Sympathy Orchestra were from Reno, although they played regularly in the San Francisco area. Singer Lynne Hughes had been in The Charlatans back in the 1960s.

Enola Faye Moss is unknown to me.

November 18, 1973 Long Branch, Berkeley, CA: Grayson Street (Sunday)

November 19, 1973 Long Branch, Berkeley, CA: Rockets (Monday) free
Even The Rockets, a house band, played for free on a Monday night. 

November 20, 1973 Long Branch, Berkeley, CA: Rubin & The Rubinoos (Tuesday)

November 21, 1973 Long Branch, Berkeley, CA: Swan (Wednesday)
Closed for Thanksgiving Thursday (22).

November 23, 1973 Long Branch, Berkeley, CA: Rockets (Friday)

November 24, 1973 Long Branch, Berkeley, CA: Grayson Street (Saturday)

November 25, 1973 Long Branch, Berkeley, CA: Grayson Street (Sunday)

November 27, 1973 Long Branch, Berkeley, CA: Rubin & The Rubinoos/Above & Beyond (Tuesday)

November 28, 1973 Long Branch, Berkeley, CA: Swan (Wednesday)

November 29, 1973 Long Branch, Berkeley, CA: Chains (Thursday) free

November 30, 1973 Long Branch, Berkeley, CA: Earth Quake (Friday)

December 1973 flyer for The Long Branch at 2504 San Pablo Avenue in Berkeley (flyer designed by and courtesy of Lydia Frazier Bosley)

December 1, 1973 Long Branch, Berkeley, CA: Rockets (Saturday)
We are missing listings for December 2 and 3 (Sunday and Monday), but it's reasonable to assume that some of the usual suspects played. 

December 5, 1973 Long Branch, Berkeley, CA: Swan (Wednesday)

December 6, 1973 Long Branch, Berkeley, CA: Chains (Thursday) 

December 7, 1973 Long Branch, Berkeley, CA: Asleep At The Wheel/Topkela (Friday)
December 8, 1973 Long Branch, Berkeley, CA: Asleep At The Wheel/Alice Stuart & Snake (Saturday)
Topkela is unknown to me. 

December 9, 1973 Long Branch, Berkeley, CA: Grayson Street (Sunday) 

December 10, 1973 Long Branch, Berkeley, CA: Titans/Rockets/Country Thunder (Monday) Legal Aid Benefit
It's easy to make fun of Berkeley--I for one never tire of it--but there's no question that things happen in Berkeley long before they happen elsewhere (for example, Berkeley's Freight And Salvage club banned smoking in 1968, and the city of Berkeley would ban smoking in restaurants around 1977). As a result of its forward-looking nature, some things catch on in Berkeley that never catch on elsewhere. One such trend was "white reggae," hippie bands that played sped-up reggae for dancing. They were very popular in 1970s Berkeley, and pretty much nowhere else. The Titans, formerly Knee Deep, were the first such band. Titans would evolve into The Shakers, and became Long Branch regulars a few years later, even releasing an album, but they too are forgotten. 

Country Thunder are unknown to me.

December 12, 1973 Long Branch, Berkeley, CA: Swan (Wednesday)

December 13, 1973 Long Branch, Berkeley, CA: Chains (Thursday)  

December 14-15, 1973 Long Branch, Berkeley, CA: Earth Quake (Friday-Saturday)

December 16, 1973 Long Branch, Berkeley, CA: Rockets (Sunday)

December 17, 1973 Long Branch, Berkeley, CA: Rockets (Monday)

December 19, 1973 Long Branch, Berkeley, CA: Rubinoos (Wednesday)

December 20, 1973 Long Branch, Berkeley, CA: Rockets (Thursday)

December 21, 1973 Long Branch, Berkeley, CA: Rockets/Grayson Street (Friday)

Country Casanova, the third Paramount Records album by Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen. George "Cody" Frayne leans on a Lincoln.

December 22, 1973 Long Branch, Berkeley, CA: Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen/Asleep At The Wheel (Saturday)
Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen and Asleep At The Wheel could both pack the Long Branch on a weekend, and had done so many times. There would have been no reason to book both of them, so the bands must have wanted to do it. Since the bands were good friends and shared management, it wouldn't have been hard to arrange.

Cody and The Airmen had been playing the Long Branch since before their first album was released, and indeed at least one track on their immortal debut Lost In The Ozone had been recorded there (either "What's The Matter Now" or "20 Flight Rock"). The band's third Paramount Records' album, Country Casanova, had been released in May 1973. In November, the Airmen had recorded their next album (Live From Deep In The Heart Of Texas) at the Armadillo World Headquarters in Austin, TX (it would be released in March, 1974). 

Asleep At The Wheel, meanwhile, had decided to move to Austin, as it was their spiritual home. Since the band moved to Texas in early 1974, it's possible that this show was a celebration and fare-thee-well for the Wheel's departure.

December 23, 1973 Long Branch, Berkeley, CA: Grayson Street (Sunday)

December 26, 1973 Long Branch, Berkeley, CA: Rubinoos (Wednesday) 

December 27, 1973 Long Branch, Berkeley, CA: Chains (Thursday) 

December 28, 1973 Long Branch, Berkeley, CA: Earth Quake/Rubinoos (Friday)

December 29, 1973 Long Branch, Berkeley, CA: Grayson Street (Saturday)  

December 30, 1973 Long Branch, Berkeley, CA: Grayson Street (Sunday)

December 31, 1973 Long Branch, Berkeley, CA: Earth Quake/Rockets (Monday)

Beserkeley Chartbusters, Vol 1, released by Beserkeley Records in July 1975, was put together by Earth Quake's management. It featured songs by Earth Quake, Greg Kihn, Jonathan Richman and The Rubinoos, all of whom had played the Long Branch many times.

Outcomes Assessment: Long Branch Bands
Berkeley's Long Branch was essentially a neighborhood club, booking bands every week for regular patrons who lived nearby. Yet rock music was booming in the Bay Area, so many of the aspiring bands who played the Branch ended up leaving a much larger mark than you might think for a 350-capacity beer joint in West Berkeley.

Bill Graham signed Eddie Money to a management contract in 1975. His 1977 debut album on Columbia included "Two Tickets To Paradise" and "Baby Hold On," and sold millions

The Rockets broke up in early 1974. All of them thrived. Lead singer Eddie Mahoney debuted the Eddie Money Band in June 1974, and they played the Long Branch regularly too. In early 1975, Money was signed by Bill Graham's management team. Ultimately Money would be hugely successful, selling millions of records on the back of giant hits like "Two Tickets To Paradise" and "Baby Hold On To Me."

Drummer John Cuniberti has been a successful producer, particularly with "New Wave" bands. Guitarist Dan Alexander is well-regarded in production and audio circles, and bassist Chris Sohlberg played with Santana and many other artists.

In 2021, Ray Benson and Asleep At The Wheel released Half A Hundred Years, on Home Records

Asleep At The Wheel moved to Austin in early 1974. They are still together, still touring and established legends. Pretty good for a band from Paw Paw, WV.

Love On The Wire, Clover's 4th and last album, and their 2nd on Mercury Records, was released in late 1977. It's a very good album, even if almost no one has heard it.

Clover struggled on until 1977. They were "discovered" in 1976 by producer Nick Lowe, who had loved the first two Fantasy albums and had no idea they hadn't broken up. Lowe facilitated two excellent Clover albums recorded in England in 1976 and '77, but the band never caught on. The Lowe association, however, was how members of Clover ended up backing Elvis Costello on his debut album My Aim Is True.

After Clover, broke up, Huey Lewis and pianist Sean Hopper teamed up with members of Soundhole and became hugely successful as Huey Lewis & The News. Guitarist John McFee, meanwhile, joined the Doobie Brothers (they were still touring in 2023), and singer Alex Call wrote some hit singles.

8.5, by Earth Quake, released by Beserkeley in 1976

Earth Quake had been dropped by A&M, but their manager Mathew "King" Kaufman started the Beserkley Records label. Besides releasing Earth Quake and Rubinoos albums, the label had big hits with Jonathan Richman and Greg Kihn. Earth Quake broke up in the early 80s, ultimately releasing 5 albums.

Grayson Street never recorded, but many members of the band moved on to bigger groups. Tenor saxophonist Lenny Pickett still leads the Saturday Night Live Band. Founder Terry Hanck joined Elvin Bishop and toured with him in the late 70s for many years.

Jonathan Richman and The Modern Lovers, released by Beserkeley in 1976

Jonathan Richman and The Modern Lovers released albums on Beserkley Records, starting in 1976. "Egyptian Reggae" became a hit,  and songs like "Road Runner" and "Abominable Snowman In The Market" are underground classics.

Tubes lead singer Fee Waybill, at Winterland ca 1974, as Dr. Strangelove, singing Tom Jones' "It's Not Unusual" (a regular showstopper for the band--you had to have seen it, just trust me...)

The Tubes released their first album in 1975, and it was a huge sensation. Their stage show, with every song its own self-contained "music video'--six years before MTV--was inspired and unforgettable. They toured America and the UK to well-deserved acclaim, and they had popular radio hits as well. The economics were unworkable, however, and the financial woes of the band eventually ground them to a halt. Keyboard player Vince Welnick joined the Grateful Dead in 1990. Versions of The Tubes have continued to perform intermittently over the decades. 

Appendix: Long Branch Performers, January-July 1974
Lydia Frazier Bosley was kind enough to send some additional flyers, and for historical value I have included them below. Since the Long Branch had a repetitive booking strategy, I didn't write out each booking. I did note when there was a band that had not appeared at the Long Branch before.

January 1974 flyer for The Long Branch at 2504 San Pablo Avenue in Berkeley (flyer designed by and courtesy of Lydia Frazier Bosley)

January 15, 1974 Long Branch, Berkeley, CA: Asleep At The Wheel/Naomi Ruth Eisenberg (Tuesday)
Asleep At The Wheel had supposedly moved to Austin by this time, but they toured so much that they regularly appeared in Bay Area clubs anyway. 

Naomi Ruth Eisenberg had been in various local ensembles, but she was best-known for having been one of the original "Hot Licks" with Dan Hicks. She sang and played fiddle, and was also a singer-songwriter. 

Terry Dolan and Terry and The Pirates finally released a 1979 album of live performances, with an All-Star cast (including John Cipollina, Greg Douglass, Lonnie Turner, Nicky Hopkins and Grateful Dead engineer Dan Healy as producer)

January 18-19, 1974 Long Branch, Berkeley, CA: Terry and The Pirates (Friday-Saturday)
Copperhead finally disintegrated by the end of 1973, so John Cipollina promptly hooked up with numerous local ensembles. One such band was Terry And The Pirates, led by singer/songwriter Terry Dolan. Dolan had moved from the Washington, DC area in 1969 and had been playing around the Bay Area ever since. Terry And The Pirates was a somewhat casual ensemble that played Dolan's songs. Cipollina was the only regular "member," with a rotating cast depending on who was available. Typical members included guitarist Gregg Douglass (ex-Country Weather, future Steve Miller Band) and the old Copperhead rhythm section (Hutchinson and Weber).

Dolan's songs were pretty good, but not really great. Terry And The Pirates were popular locally, and his demos got some airplay on FM, but he never really got over the top.

January 20, 1974 Long Branch, Berkeley, CA: Valley Boys (Sunday)
The Valley Boys were a country rock band, possibly from Fresno, who regularly played Bay Area clubs.  

I Gotta Be Me, Gideon & Power's 1972 album on Bell (recorded in 1971 at Keystone Korner in San Francisco with members of the Elvin Bishop Group)

January 25-26, 1974 Long Branch, Berkeley, CA: Gideon & Power/Grayson Street [25]/Frank Biner and The Nightshift [26] (Friday-Saturday)
Gideon Daniels was a powerful singer with a gospel background, and the band Gideon & Power played in a sort of gospel-rock style. Gideon & Power recorded a 1971 album live at the Keystone Korner, supported by some players from the Elvin Bishop Group. Since Gideon Daniels had been Elvin Bishop's housemate at one point, it's not surprising to find out that various members came and went through Gideon & Power over the years, and the band was somewhat of a farm team for Bishop. Singer Mickey Thomas and organist Melvin Seals had successful shifts with Gideon and then Elvin, too (Seals of course went on to play with the Jerry Garcia Band for 15 years).

Frank Biner was a popular local soul singer. Over the course of the 70s, Tower Of Power recorded a few of his songs, and he put out a few albums as a bandleader, but back in '74 Biner was just another guy working the clubs. Biner, with his band Nightshift, was a regular on weeknights at the Keystone Berkeley, but he played some gigs at the Long Branch, too. Biner was originally from Chicago, where he had recorded a few singles, but he had moved to the East Bay in the late 60s.

February 1974 flyer for The Long Branch at 2504 San Pablo Avenue in Berkeley (flyer designed by and courtesy of Lydia Frazier Bosley)

February 8, 1974 Long Branch, Berkeley, CA: Earth Quake/Son Of Pete (Friday)
The Friday show was reviewed by Berkeley Gazette critic Todd Tolces. It seems that Stoneground was booked to open for Malo at UC Berkeley's Zellerbach Auditorium. Stoneground had a band illness, and had to cancel, so Earth Quake did the opening set, and then hustled the 2 miles down to the Long Branch to headline.

Tolces also described Son Of Pete's set, extended somewhat due to Earth Quake's delayed arrival. Son Of Pete appears to have been a reggae "Toaster," a very odd thing outside of Jamaica and some neighborhoods in New York City. Toasters dj'd reggae records for dancing over customized sound systems, playing with the stereo mix and various effects, while also singing or talking over the records. As I understand it, the "Toaster" setup, pioneered in Jamaica, was a technological building block for rap music. Nascent rappers apparently took Toaster-type setups (sound system, multiple turntables, mic) and layered different music onto it. Outside of New York (or Kingston), however, many did not recognize the configuration.

It's easy to laugh at Berkeley--and fun too--but here was a guy playing gigs as a Reggae Toaster, playing a style of music unseen outside parts of New York Metro. Tolces praised Son Of Pete particularly for having numerous cool, unheard Reggae 45s, and I assure you that Berkeley took record snobbery seriously indeed. I have seen references that suggest that Son Of Pete was Earth Quake manager (and Beserkley Records founder) Matthew Kaufman, but I can't confirm that.

February 22-23, 1974 Long Branch, Berkeley, CA: The Tubes/Kid Gloves (Friday-Saturday)
Kid Gloves are unknown to me. They regularly opened for The Tubes. 

SF Examiner March 8, 1974

March 8, 1974 Long Branch, Berkeley, CA: Earth Quake/New Stoneground (Friday)
I do not have flyers for March and April 1974, but I did some research on booked bands. I am including notes on any of the groups that hadn't played in the previous several months.

Stoneground had been formed in 1970 out of various San Francisco bands, to provide a "house band" for KSAN boss Tom Donahue's Medicine Ball Caravan. The Medicine Ball Caravan was meant to be a sort of traveling Woodstock, busing freaks around the country to put on mini-Woodstocks everywhere. The Grateful Dead backed out at the last moment. A strange film was made of the peculiar trek. Stoneground was signed by Warner Brothers and recorded 3 moderately successful album. Stoneground had no less than five lead singers, and had a sort of gospel-ish feel laid on top of a typical rock band. Stoneground broke up in mid-1973.

In early 1974, Stoneground lead guitarist Tim Barnes re-formed the band, initially just as a quartet. Barnes was the only lead singer. They probably did some of Stoneground's old songs, but they would have sounded different with just one singer. Other band members were organist Fred Webb (ex-It's A Beautiful Day), bassist Terry Davis and drummer Sammy Piazza (ex-Hot Tuna). Somewhat later, Stoneground would add two lead singers, including Jo Baker, and return somewhat to their older sound, and they eventually rose to at least a similar level to what they had been in the early 70s.

SF Examiner March 21, 1974

March 21, 1974 Long Branch, Berkeley, CA: Jimmy Baric Group (Thursday)
The Jimmy Baric Group are unknown to me. They played the Long Branch regularly during March 1974. I suspect that it might be guitarist Jimmy Berick, later in the Epic Records band Masters Of The Airwaves.

 

SF Examiner, March 23, 1974

 

March 23, 1974 Long Branch, Berkeley, CA: Naomi Ruth Eisenberg/Mitch Woods and His Red Hot Mama (Saturday)
Brooklyn-born pianist Mitch Woods had been playing in the Bay Area since 1970. Woods backed singer Gracie Glassman, as Mitch Woods And His Red Hot Mama, but I'm not sure if they had a band or were a duo. In the next few years, Woods would form Mitch Woods and His Rocket 88s, who had a throwback R&B sound. Woods has had a successful career ever since, and he still appears to be going strong.  

 

SF Examiner, March 30, 1974

March 30, 1974 Long Branch, Berkeley, CA: Valley Boys/Soundhole (Saturday)
Soundhole was a Marin band, who seemed to have debuted at the Branch on this Sunday night. By year's end, Soundhole would headline every Sunday night for a couple of months. Bay Area geography is odd, and West Berkeley was actually very near to Marin County (particularly after rush hour), so this was really a local gig for them. 

Soundhole was a rock band, but they had a sound that was influenced by jazz and soul. Kinda like Van Morrison, which is why Van Morrison--another Bay Area club regular--hired them as his backing band around 1974. Heady stuff for some guys from Marin who were still pretty new to the music scene. Soundhole was led by guitarist Brian Marnell, who would become somewhat known in the Bay Area for leading the band SVT (with Jack Casady) in the later 1970s. John Farey (later in Zero) played organ, and Brian Hogan played tenor sax.

Bassist Mario Cipollina (John's younger brother), drummer Bill Gibson and saxophonist/guitarist Johnny Colla would team up with two members of Clover (see above) to form Huey Lewis And The News, going on to fame and fortune.

May 1974 flyer for The Long Branch at 2504 San Pablo Avenue in Berkeley (flyer designed by and courtesy of Lydia Frazier Bosley)

May 2, 1974 Long Branch, Berkeley, CA: Fluid Drive (Thursday)
Fluid Drive are unknown to me. They were regular performers at the Long Branch on Thursdays in May 1974.

The Long Branch did not advertise bands on Monday, Tuesday and Wednsday nights. I don't know if the club was closed those nights, or if they just didn't book music. 

May 10-11, 1974 Long Branch, Berkeley, CA: Frank Biner and The Nightshift/Lucky Strike (Friday-Saturday)
After his club debut a few months earlier, Frank Biner was now headlining weekends at The Long Branch

Lucky Strike was a blues-rock band fronted by singer and harmonica player David Burgin. They had some good success in East Bay clubs, but never climbed any higher on the ladder.

May 17, 1974 Long Branch, Berkeley, CA: Grayson Street/Steel Band (Friday)
The Steel Band are unknown to me.  Possibly it's "a" (Caribbean) steel band.

June 1974 flyer for The Long Branch at 2504 San Pablo Avenue in Berkeley (flyer designed by and courtesy of Lydia Frazier Bosley)

June 16, 1974 Long Branch, Berkeley, CA: Frank Biner and The Nightshift featuring The Stovall Sisters (Sunday)
Lillian, Netta and Joyce Stovall were three of 22 (!) children raised in a gospel-singing family that had moved to Oakland in the late 1950s. The trio had released a sort of gospel-soul album on Reprise in 1970 which included the hit "Hang On In There." They were also the backup singers for Norman Greenbaum's "Spirit In The Sky." I assume Biner and Nightshift backed them for a set, and also played their own set.

June 29, 1974 Long Branch, Berkeley, CA: Eddie Money/Lucky Strike (Saturday)
The Rockets had broken up at the end of 1973. In June 1974, Eddie Mahoney re-introduced himself as "Eddie Money," with a new band led by guitarist Jimmy Lyons. They dominated the Long Branch, just as the Rockets had done.

July 1974 flyer for The Long Branch at 2504 San Pablo Avenue in Berkeley (flyer designed by and courtesy of Lydia Frazier Bosley)

July 5, 1974 Long Branch, Berkeley, CA: Norman Greenbaum & Crossfire/Yesterday & Today (Friday)
Norman Greenbaum was an anomaly at the Long Branch, as he was at every club he played at. Greenbaum, a guitarist and singer, had been in a 60s band that played in a sort of Lovin' Spoonful style band called Dr West's Medicine Show and Junk Band. In 1969, Greenbaum wrote a song that got him signed by Reprise, and assigned to staff producer Erik Jacobsen, former producer of the Spoonful. After a re-arrangement, Greenbaum's gospel-folk "Spirit In The Sky" sold millions of copies and went #1 all over the world. It is still heard regularly today on soundtracks on commercials.

He did release a second album, which included a minor hit "Canned Ham."Greenbaum lived quietly on his farm in Petaluma and didn't perform much, because he didn't have to.  Nonetheless, he sometimes toured around local clubs. We can guess his last number. Crossfire seems to have been an existing group, but I don't know anything else about them.

Yesterday & Today was a band from Oakland. Initially a cover band, they had started to play their own material in a hard rocking English style, kind of like Humble Pie. The quartet slugged it out in East Bay clubs for years. In 1984 when "hair metal" was popular on MTV, they finally made it big as Y & T, releasing the hit album In Rock We Trust.

July 11, 1974 Long Branch, Berkeley, CA: Frisco Kids (Thursday)
The Frisco Kids are unknown to me.

July 31, 1974 Long Branch, Berkeley, CA: Butch Whacks And His Glass Packs (Wednesday)
Butch Whacks and His Glass Packs were a 15-piece rock and roll band dedicated to performing old style rock and roll hits from the 50s and early 60s. The band got their start as students at St. Mary’s College in Moraga playing frat parties, and eventually morphed into a very popular bay area club and theater act.

For the post about shows at the Long Branch from its opening in May 1971 through December 1971, see here

For the post about shows at the Long Branch from January through June 1972, see here

1746 US-20, West Lebanon, NY, Lebanon Valley Speedway Concert History (1973, 1977, 1980)

 

SuperModifieds racing at Lebanon Valley Raceway in West Lebanon, NY

Lebanon Valley Speedway, 1746 US-20, West Lebanon, NY: Concert History (1973, 1977, 1980)
The live rock concert business boomed from 1965 until the end of the 20th century. Venues of all sizes and configurations were added all over the country, filled by rock bands (and other genres) criss-crossing the country, playing live and selling t-shirts wherever they went. Even performers whose recording careers were clearly in decline were still often huge concert attractions. One peculiar result of this explosion, however, was that in the 1970s there were simply not enough venues for live rock concerts, particularly at scale. This was magnified in areas that were far from professional sports arenas, where a multi-use basketball arena could be transformed for a night into a concert hall.

Promoters looked for viable alternatives in order to capitalize on the potentially thriving markets. If a band had a big booking in, say, Cleveland, and one in Boston two weeks later, it made sense to play somewhere in between. FM radio had a huge reach, and while the countryside and distant suburbs may not have had the underground cool of big cities, the kids there still read Rolling Stone and wanted to see the hot bands traveling around the country. One temporary response to this economic opportunity was to make use of auto racing tracks. In the 1970s and early '80s, auto racing tracks were pressed into use as concert venues, with differing degrees of success. Ultimately, customized outdoor concert facilities, usually called "sheds," dotted the landscape, and converted race tracks were no longer needed. At the same time, auto racing tracks had great difficulty staying viable at all, so there were fewer of them to even consider converting. 

The biggest rock concerts of the 70s were held at auto racing tracks. 600,000 attended the "Summer Jam" featuring the Allman Brothers, the Grateful Dead and The Band at Watkins Glen Grand Prix Raceourse in New York (July 28, 1973). While only 150,000 of those in attendance at the Glen had paid, the biggest paid attendance was at the "California Jam" concerts at Ontario Motor Speedway, near Los Angeles, with over 168,000 paid out of at least 200,000 at each event (April 6, 1974 and March 18, 1978). Elsewhere I wrote about the history of auto racing tracks as concert facilities, although I focused on Grateful Dead concerts, in order to keep the topic manageable. 

Yet some less prominent auto racing tracks also had brief histories as concert venues in the 70s. One of the smallest was the Lebanon Valley Speedway, in tiny West Lebanon, NY, between Albany and Pittsfield, MA. There were concerts in 1973, 1977 and 1980. The concerts were financially successful, and things initially went well--until they didn't. 

This post will look at the history or rock concerts at the Lebanon Valley Raceway in the 1970s. If anyone has corrections, insights or memories, please put them in the Comments. Flashbacks are actively encouraged.

Lebanon Valley Raceway, 1746 US-20, W. Lebanon, NY in 2019

County Speedways
Due to the rise of NASCAR as a national "brand" in the 1990s, many sports fans are somewhat familiar with how County speedways in the South created a kind of NASCAR minor leagues, giving an opportunity for the likes of Dale Earnhardt to thrive and rise. In places like the Carolinas, just about every county had a speedway, often just a 1/4 or 3/8 mile track, often dirt rather than paved, that provided the weekend entertainment for all the gearheads and farmers. On either Friday or Saturday throughout the summer, all the local drivers and a few regional hotshoes raced their cars for prize money. Neighbors, co-workers and family members helped with car prep and pit crew. There wasn't much doing in many of these small towns, so going to the local Speedway on Friday or  Saturday was the most fun around until High School football season would kick off. A few "locals," like Earnhardt, in Kannapolis, NC, rose through the ranks and went on to fame at the NASCAR superspeedways. 

From an auto racing point of view, the Dale Earnhardt story was played out in rural areas throughout the United States. The social, financial and agricultural contexts varied for the Northeast, the Midwest and California's Central Valley, often quite different than the tobacco and cotton fields of the Southeast. But the story about auto racing was pretty much the same. 

After World War 2, farming had become fairly mechanized, and of course many future farmers returned from the War with a sophisticated practical understanding of internal combustion engines. Regardless of anyone's actual profession, or what crop was grown in their region, come the weekend, a lot of young men wanted to see how fast their cars would go. In the South, some of that was about running moonshine, but that was less of a factor elsewhere in the country. Yet the urge to put pedal to the metal was nationwide. Indeed, it was little different than a prior century before when their grandfathers might have wanted to see who had the fastest horse. Now, the racing was with modified Chevy, Ford and Dodge sedans, but the impulse was the same. 

The red star represents tiny West Lebanon, NY, in Columbia County.

West Lebanon, NY
West Lebanon, NY is a tiny hamlet (current population: 132) in Columbia County, about 25 miles Southeast of Albany and just 15 miles West of Pittsfield, MA and the Berkshires. The Mohicans originally lived in the area, but the Dutch started to move in to the region in the 17th century. Columbia County itself was founded in 1786. The Vermont Central Railroad was built through the area in the 1850s, linking Portland, ME and other cities in New England with Chatham, NY, thus linking to Manhattan. The nearby town of New Lebanon was the home of the Shaker religious community. 

West Lebanon was on US Route 20, the longest transcontinental road, which stretches from Boston to Newport, OR. US-20 was the main route through Columbia County prior to the introduction of Interstate 90 in 1957. Lebanon Valley Speedway commenced racing in 1953, and the track is still open (using the name Lebanon Valley Raceway). It currently features a half-mile clay oval track for dirt track racing as well as a quarter-mile dragstrip. There are SuperModified and Sportsman Dirt Track Races every Saturday night starting in May. The venue lists a capacity for racing at 7100 fans. An historic site has a good summary of the track history. I have excerpted the parts below that focus on the economic history of the track (for a full summary of the racing details and great photos, check out the site itself):

Laid out in 1953 in a cornfield and the Lebanon Valley Airport, the speedway was owned by the Spanier family and leased to  and operated by a Massachusetts group consisting of Edward Radke, Robert Scott and Harold Beitzel. The gentlemen had hopes of developing a state of the art race track drawing Massachusetts, Vermont, Connecticut and New York State drivers and teams to this centralized location.

In 1953, the interstate systems were not yet developed and Route 20 was one of the main east west routes for getting to or from Albany and Massachusetts. Route 22 was a main road for North South traffic.  

There were three sanctioning bodies in the area. The Eastern States Racing Association, Big Car Racing Association and the AAA. These associations often used fairgrounds to organize races and it was becoming quite popular.

The Pittsfield group were focused on gaining cars from State Line Speedway in North Bennington Vermont, Route 66 Speedway in Averill Park New York, Pine Bowl Speedway north of Route 66 Speedway and Arlington Speedway in Poughkeepsie New York.

During the preparation of the half mile oval, fences were put in, grandstands were erected and the barn was lettered with 'Lebanon Valley Speedway.’ All of these preparations developed a significant debt (for 1953 standards) and they assured the banker that he would be easily repaid. The grand opening-day show was cancelled due to a Sunday rainstorm and the following week's scheduled 50-lapper was reduced to 26 circuits when competing drivers declared the track turns too dangerous. Hully Bunn from Bristol Connecticut won the inaugural 13 mile main event on June 28, 1953 in front of an estimated crowd of 2,500.

In 1954, Lou Spanier gained ownership and at the end of the 1955 season, Lebanon Valley gained its signature 'high banks'. A timely project as no record of racing in 1956 can be found. The 'high banks' have become a trademark of Lebanon Valley Speedway ever since making Lebanon Valley Speedway a track that demands power along with keen driving skills. Racing resumed in 1957 under the promotion of Spanier and the Lebanon Valley Auto Racing Association. Race day moved from Sunday afternoons to Friday evenings and midway through that same season the switch was made to Saturday nights where it has remained for more than 50 years.

A characteristic of regional tracks like Lebanon Valley Speedway was that they typically held races only one weekend night a week, on either Friday or Saturday. For one thing, rural areas couldn't really support more than one night. More importantly, some of the more serious regional racers would race at one track on Friday and another track on Saturday, ensuring that the fields were larger and more competitive at more than one track. In the case of Lebanon Valley Speedway, Saturday night has been "Race Night" since 1957, so that left Fridays open for other kinds of promotions. Thus rock concerts at Lebanon Valley Speedway would be on Friday nights.

The listing in the Troy Times-Record says "8 p.m. Country and blues festival with New Riders of the Purple Sage, Star Spangled Washboard Band and special guest John Lee Hooker"

August 24, 1973 Lebanon Valley Speedway, W. Lebanon, NY: New Riders of The Purple Sage/John Lee Hooker/Star Spangled Washboard Band (Friday)
The live rock concert business had really started to expand by 1973. FM radio had spread rock music from college campuses and bohemian underground ballrooms. Even in a rural place like Columbia County, high school kids and young adults were hearing the same bands on FM stations that were being played in Manhattan or San Francisco. Record companies wanted to keep their bands on the road, as they saw live concerts as a way to encourage FM airplay, which in turn increased record sales. Many bands sold truckloads of records because they were willing to crisscross the country playing gig after gig. Bands like Foghat or Ten Years After didn't have a single giant hit, but they had played every Municipal Auditorium and College gym from Coast to Coast, and they had gold records to show for it.

In August 1973, the New Riders of The Purple Sage had released three albums on Columbia Records, and they would soon release their fourth. Their 1971 debut had been notable for the presence of Jerry Garcia on pedal steel guitar, but the demands of the Grateful Dead made it inevitable that he would depart. In late 1971, Garcia gave up the chair to the exceptional Canadian steel guitarist Buddy Cage, who had most recently played with Anne Murray and Ian & Sylvia Tyson. Powerglide had been released in April of 1972, and Gypsy Cowboy had followed in December of that year. The Riders recorded what would be their most popular album, Panama Red, in the Spring, and it would come out in October. In the meantime, the New Riders followed the Grateful Dead model, touring hard and putting on 2-hour shows that kept their fans on their feet. There weren't "Grateful Dead Cover Bands" in those days, so if you wanted a figurative dose (or even a literal one), the New Riders were the next best option to the main attraction. 

On the August leg of their 1973, tour the New Riders were booked for Saturday, August 25 in Lewiston, ME. On the next weekend, they were playing Asbury Park, NJ on Friday (August 31) and Westport, CT on Saturday (September 1). In between they had three weeknights at a club in Boston (Paul's Mall August 27-29). There was some logic to kicking off the tour with a Friday night show, but it couldn't compete directly with any of those other areas. At the same time, touring logic dictated that the extra gig would have to be in the same region.

In the 1960s, kids in Columbia County would have liked rock music, but would have had a hard time knowing about all but the most famous groups. By 1973, however, they would all have been listening to FM radio and reading Rolling Stone, just like their peers throughout the country. All the Riders needed was a venue in the right place. Someone seems to have figured out that a Friday night at the Lebanon Valley Speedway would work. It was a standing venue with power, water, bathrooms, parking and crowd control. Rock concerts can be noisy, but they aren't necessarily noisier than the Saturday night Super Modifieds. So the New Riders of The Purple Sage were booked to open their tour on Friday, August 24, supported by blues legend John Lee Hooker and a local group. The concert was supported by radio station WGFM in Albany, NY. 

John Lee Hooker had been a blues legend since the late 1940s. He had had somewhat of a revival thanks to 60s covers by the likes of The Animals (with "Boom Boom") and Canned Heat. After some fallow years recording, Hooker had been signed by ABC Records. His most recent album was 1972's Never Get Out Of These Blues Alive, recorded in late '71 in San Francisco. Guests included Elvin Bishop and Van Morrison. By this time, Hooker lived in Redwood City, a Peninsula suburb of SF. I don't know who might have been in Hooker's touring band.

.

The Troy (NY) Times-Record article from Saturday (August 25) told the tale. The event was a modest success, and a good time seemed to be had, but attendance wasn't up to expectations. 

Quiet Night At Speedway 'Blues' Concert (Bill Rice, Troy Times-Record, Saturday, August 25, 1973)
WEST LEBANON-It might be the first and last, and it might be the first of many.

Some 4,700 young people attended the first country blues concert ever held at Lebanon Valley Speedway here last night.

On the program were the New Riders of The Purple Sage, John Lee Hooker and The Star Spangled Washboard Band.

Promoters of the concert, National Student Productions and Radio station WGY-WGFM were not hoping for another Watkins Glen or Woodstock. A crowd of around 6,000 was anticipated by Bill Brina of National Student Productions.

The crowd was quiet and orderly, as The Star Spangled Washboard Band did the opening act.
Brina said there were no problems with gate crashers. A Lebanon Valley security officer said

"The kids are minding their own business and playing it cool. What they do someplace else doesn't interest us. We have had more trouble with Saturday night race crowds."

He did say about 200 youngsters tried to go over the fence, and half made it without paying the $5 admission fee

The New Riders concert at Lebanon Valley Speedway clearly wasn't a failure, but it apparently wasn't enough of a success, either. As the Times-Record reporter suggested, it seemed to be the first and last.

But--not quite.

The Monday, July 18 '77 Berkshire Eagle, from Pittsfield, MA, mentioned the 87-dgree temperature at the J Geils/Blue Oyster Cult concert at Lebanon Valley Speedway, The concert drew at least 17,000 and perhaps as many as 30K.

July 15, 1977 Lebanon Valley Speedway, West Lebanon, NY: Blue Oyster Cult/J Geils Band/Black Oak Arkansas/Dictators (Friday)
The live rock concert market had been expanding in 1973 when the New Riders had played Lebanon Valley Speedway. Four years later, the market had only gotten larger. There were major bands touring all over the country, and thanks to FM radio, there were fans everywhere. But there simply weren't enough venues. Bands could book great-paying gigs in the big markets, but once they were out on the road the economics required that they book a paying gig somewhere. In secondary markets. promoters started to look around at other sites. A band on the road didn't have to make a killing at every show, just enough to tide them over to the next profitable booking. So yet another concert was booked at Lebanon Valley Speedway, once again on a Friday night. All the bands were regular road dogs, on the way up or on the way down.

This flyer and the ticket below are from the great BOC historic site

In the Summer of '76, Long Island-based Blue Oyster Cult had released their 4th album Agents Of Fortune. It included the epic single "Don't Fear The Reaper." They toured relentlessly behind the album. Their follow-up album Specter would not be released until October 1977. BOC was never bigger than this moment, save for their amazing "More Cowbell" redux on Saturday Night Live.

The J Geils Band, out of Boston, seemed to be on a plateau, although quite the opposite turned out to be the case. The band had just released the album Monkey Island. They would spend much of the Summer opening humongous stadium shows for Peter Frampton, so gigs at places like Lebanon Valley Speedway kept the wheels turning. Of course, after J Geils treaded water into the 1980s, MTV would arise, and "Centerfold" and "Love Stinks" brought the Geils Band's bangin' stage show to huge masses of teenagers. Playing gigs like this over the years had kept the band rolling, even if playing second-up to BOC in upstate New York might have seemed like a chore at this time.

Black Oak Arkansas, a boogie band who really were from Black Oak, AK, on the other hand, were still a popular act on the road, but definitely on the downward slide. Back in late '73 Black Oak had released their fifth album on Atco, High On The Hog. The album would be the high water mark for the band, reaching #52 on Billboard. The album included the single "Jim Dandy" (with the chorus "Jim Dandy to the rescue"), which itself went to #55. Black Oak Arkansas had been among the initial wave of Southern rockers, even though they sounded quite a bit different than the somewhat jazz/R&B influenced Allman Brothers. Black Oak Arkansas' twin-guitar attack was pretty much straight boogie. It's actually harder to play high-speed shuffles than it appears, so the band may have been better than they were given credit for, but they did not have the reputation for musical virtuousity like the Allmans and their peers. 

By 1977, however, only lead singer Jim (Dandy) Mangrum remained from the original lineup. On stage, various hired guns ran through their most popular album tracks, but record sales has cratered. Their most recent album was 10-Year Overnight Success, on MCA, which had been released back in 1976. Now, of course, we know that this was the future of just about every popular 70s rock band--a few early hit albums, followed by declining record sales while fans continued to see live performances with increasingly few band members from the golden days. Some version of Black Oak Arkansas has continued to tour up until the present day, mostly (though not always) fronted by Jim Mangrum. 

The Dictators were known as a seminal New York City punk band, but in fact they had formed at SUNY New Paltz back in 1972. New Paltz was midway between New York and Albany, not too far from West Lebanon.  The Dictators had released their first album of short, hard-rocking songs back in 1975. The Dictators Go Girl Crazy! was promoted by Epic as a sort of cartoonish, fun pop band, since punk rock didn't really exist yet as a genre.

By '77, the Dictators had broken up and reformed, yet with most of the same members. The lead singer was the muscular "Handsome Dick" Manitoba, Ross "The Boss" Friedman was on lead guitar, and the  keyboard player and main songwriter was Adny Shernoff (yes, the spelling is correct). Since The Dictators were from New York, they got a lot of press for a band that didn't sell may records nor ever get much radio play. Their second album, Manifest Destiny, had been released in 1977 on Asylum, but the band would break up in 1978 (only to reform many times).

A weekend round-up from the nearby Berkshire (MA) Daily Eagle tells us that the concert was pretty successful.

Heat, crowds, power outages mark weekend (By Robert M. McDonough (Berkshire Eagle, Monday, July 18, 1977)
Two days of record-tying temperatures and a weekend full of special attractions drew thousands of area residents out of their homes for one of the busiest Berkshire weekends yet this summer.

Meteorologist George J. Bulgarelli said that high temperatures of 87 Friday and 86 Saturday tied the records for those days...

The single largest-drawing event of the weekend was outside the county. A rock concert at Lebanon Valley Speedway in New Lebanon, N.Y. drew a crowd of music enthusiasts that was estimated anywhere between 17,000 and 30,000 people. The attractions were the groups J. Geils, Blue Oyster Cult and Black Oak Arkansas.

Police reported that the crowd was orderly during the concert, and only one arrest was reported by Columbia County Sheriff's Department deputies. Arrested was 21-year-old Leo Robillard of 1 Lowden St, Pittsfield. He was charged with driving while intoxicated, and criminal possession of a controlled substance. Police arrested him after he had backed into one of their police cruisers at the concert.

The crowd was pretty substantial. I'm not sure why the estimate was so broad (between 17,000 and 30,000), since promoters are usually eager to tout what a success they have had. Nonetheless, given that none of the bands were (at the time) major attractions, even 17,000 would have been a fine crowd. The weather cooperated, and the crowd was pretty well-behaved. Yet, once again, there was a three-year break before rock shows reappeared at Lebanon Valley Speedway.

July 18, 1980 Lebanon Valley Speedway, West Lebanon, NY: ZZ Top (Friday)
In the Summer of 1980, there were two concerts at Lebanon Valley Speedway. I couldn't find any reports about the first one, so it probably went OK. The second one, well---when a concert in Upstate New York is written about in the New York Times, it usually isn't because everyone had a wonderful time.

The July concert featured the legendary Texas trio ZZ Top, on their "Expect No Quarter" tour, behind their album Deguello. ZZ Top had been very successful in the early 70s, but they took a break from their heavy touring schedule in 1976. They reconvened in 1979 with the new album, and the hit single "Cheap Sunglasses." ZZ Top were great in concert, much beloved by their fans. I have to assume that the reason they played Lebanon Valley Speedway was that they had an open night in the Northeast, and wanted to fill it. 

I'm sure there was at least one opening act, but I don't know who it might have been. ZZ Top were in a sort of trough of popularity. They weren't as big an act as they were in the mid-70s, but they were nowhere near as big as they would become once MTV caught on to them. ZZ Top probably drew a pretty good crowd, probably 10-15,000 people, and probably it went as well as the J Geils show a few years earlier.

August 8, 1980 Lebanon Valley Speedway, West Lebanon, NY: Blue Oyster Cult/Black Sabbath (Friday)
The last concert at Lebanon Valley Speedway was on August 8, 1980. Blue Oyster Cult returned, behind their album Black And Blue. BOC was still popular, but as we have noted, they had begun their long decline.

As for Black Sabbath, they were on the second of their many lives. Since their 1970 debut, they had established themselves with endless touring and best selling albums that sold a lot, despite receiving relatively little FM (much less AM) airplay. In 1978, however, after 8 albums, lead singer Ozzy Osbourne had left the group. This was usually the beginning of a long decline for any 1970s group. Not for the Sabs, however.

Replacing the seemingly irreplaceable Ozzy was Ronnie James Dio, who had come to fame in the mid-70s as the lead singer of Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow. Dio, today a somewhat legendary singer himself, was actually from New York State. Dio was from Cortland, NY, just south of Syracuse and a few hours West of Albany. Dio's band Elf had opened some dates for Deep Purple around 1974, and when Blackmore left that band, he scooped up Dio. Dio had a powerful, almost operatic voice, and was one of the proto-metal performers most responsible for the fantasy element of wizards and demons in metal song lyrics. Dio had left the hugely successful Rainbow in 1978, as Blackmore wanted to veer away from fantasy-oriented lyrics. Dio was then invited to join Black Sabbath by guitarist Tony Iommi. 

Black Sabbath's 9th album for Warner Brothers, Heaven And Hell, featured Dio's vocals along with other three original Sabs (Iommi, bassist Geezer Butler and drummer Bill Ward). Heaven And Hell ultimately went Platinum. Black Sabbath only got bigger. Eventually, Ozzy would return in glory to the band, and Ronnie James Dio himself would go on to become a huge star (Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow, in turn, remained huge throughout the 20th century as well).  The 1980 Sabbath/BOC tour was known as "The Black And Blue Tour," for obvious reasons.

In later years, as Dio became bigger and bigger, along with Sabbath, fans must have enjoyed recounting how they saw him with the Sabbath during an Ozzy hiatus. Drummer Bill Ward, beset with health problems, would play his last gig with Black Sabbath on August 18, so the show was near the end of the line for that lineup. Black Sabbath, Ozzy and Dio had a complicated subsequent history of joining, leaving and re-joining, but Black Sabbath (and Dio) remained phenomenally successful.

Over the decades, rock fans in big cities chuckle at the various rubes and preachers who declare that Black Sabbath or Ronnie Dio are "demonic" and "dangerous influences." It seems naive. When you read about the Lebanon Valley Speedway show, however, maybe the labels aren't so wrong. Based on news articles, and some comments from the great Blue Oyster Cult history site, the show at Lebanon Valley Speedway represented everything that could go wrong at an outdoor rock concert. Let's summarize:

• At least 20,000 fans showed up, packing the track, mostly young men wound up on liquor and drugs of all kinds.
• The narrow highway leading to the Speedway was backed up for at least five miles, and cars were parked along the side of the road for most of the way. Many patrons were late, which added to the chaos.
• Security used baseball bats to protect the stage, and the bands kept asking people to please step back to protect the crushed fans up front
• Besides the drugs and fighting, numerous bonfires were set, and several cars were burned, for no particular reason
• Two teenagers died in traffic accidents after the event
• Many patrons were unable to leave after the show, presumably due to traffic, and ended up spending the night in the parking lot
• The owner of the track wanted nothing to do with another rock concert, which was fine, since the town of West Lebanon banned all future concerts
• Here are some eyewitness tales from the Blue Oyster Cult history site

Mark D: I went to this concert with my brother and 3 other friends in an orange VW bus from our house in eastern Massachusetts and it was the most memorable concerts I have ever been to.

We got an early start that AM and I remember parking the van in a field with hundreds of other vehicles and thousands of people.

The concert was absolutely fantastic. I can remember trying to get to the chain link fence with my buddy and you would literally be lifted off your feet from all the people pressing against you. In the thick of it, the crowd split (somehow) and made a path for a person who was pretty badly hurt coming from the very front. His/her head was wrapped with a white t-shirt wet with blood.

We continued our fight for position and eventually made it to the fence where the roadies used bats and sticks to hit the knuckles of anyone trying to hold onto the fence. Blue Oyster Cult then played Godzilla and it was definitely the climax of the concert. I'll never forget the drum solo.

The event was "marred with violence". As I recall, three people were killed... one I know was hit by a car. I was only 17, so I was completely shocked by what some people were doing. After the show, one guy was pushing anyone that walked by him just for a fight while about a dozen others flipped a car in a pit and torched it. Everyone was whacked out on mushrooms, acid, mesk, weed... you name it.

I now live about 20 miles from Lebanon Valley Speedway and I have spoken to some that lived in the area and he said the guy that owned the speedway didn't realize the concert would be so huge and crazy and refused to attempt anything like it again.

Steve Del Signore: I made a road trip to this show, about a 2 hour drive, with a carful of crazies. AC/DC's Back In Black had just come out and we blasted it on the way out to the show.

We actually left our city with plenty of time to spare, planning to get there an hour before showtime. Well, the speedway is out in the cornfields and had a single lane road going to it. This caused a huge bumper to bumper traffic slowdown and we crawled along for miles and miles.

As we neared the site, we were still about an hour earlier than the advertised start time. I could hear music coming from inside and I remember panicing because it was Sabbath already playing.

So by the time we got inside and parked, walked to the grounds and got our beers it seemed to take forever before we could watch the band. So missed a good half of them. Beers were selling by the thousands as it was a hot, humid evening and the place was full of yahoos wanting to go off.

I do remember at least 2 deaths, possibly 3 after the concert. We nearly made it 6 or 7 when our car approached a Y, 2 roads turning into 1 and came upon another car speeding along on the left to merge onto this sudden one lane road. Neither driver thought to ease up and let the other pass and we came within a hair of a major accident, two cars barrelling along side by side for a couple hundred feet until one pulled ahead. Like I said, they sold a lot of beer that day.

This racetrack is actually named Lebanon Valley SPEEDWAY and not Raceway, as can be seen on the ticket scans. It is called the Albany stop on the tour but is located about an hour southeast of Albany, NY in West Lebanon, New York.

Richard Morsa: i went to this show with a few friends of mine from Williamstown Mass. i was 14, we ate lots of acid, we wound up in the back bleachers, it was crazy...

there was a fire in the bleachers, and i remember there were about 5 or 6 bonfires in the center of the speedway, people had poles with flags with the boc symbol and someone brought in a cross about 30 ft tall painted black,

during sabbath i saw the cross lowered into one of the bonfires and brought back up... then it fell over into the crowd...
I saw countless people being dragged out by us as we were close to the exits, i remember the guy "mark d" mentioned with the bloody shirt wrapped around him being carried out, they stopped the show a few times and the bands kept saying to step back from the stage or they would leave.

as we left to go to our car there were a bunch of people standing on a ridge throwing rocks into a ditch, me and my friends got closer and they were yelling" fuck iran" as they were throing the rocks, we went to the edge of the ditch and there was a cadillac down there, someone went down and lit a rag in the gas tank, and i remember the car exploding and people still throwing rocks at it,

remember this was the time of the iran hostage crisis, and in willimastown where i lived the shah's son went to school there, so it might have been one of his guards or something, people said he hit some girl with his car, thats why they flipped it in the ditch, i remember a few cop cars coming in the lot and people threw rocks and bottles at them and they just left.

as we left we saw the accident where the guardrail was bent, and the emt's were pulling up a gurney and i remember it was soaked with blood, i thought it was a red sheet, but i saw a few spots of white and realized it was soaked in blood. we got home and it was all over the news, they cancelled all shows at the speedway after that show.

quite the experience!

For the record, one Bolle Gregmar had a Blue Oyster Cult Setlist

80-08-08: Lebanon Valley Speedway, Lebanon, New York Setlist:

    Dr.Music
    ETI
    Lips In The Hills
    Unknown Tongue
    Cities On Flame
    The Marshall Plan
    Divine Wind
    ME262
    Hot Rails To Hell
    Black Blade
    Godzilla
    Bass Solo
    5 Gtrs - Mark III - Golden Age
    Born To Be Wild
    (Don't Fear) The Reaper

An AP Wire story published in the New York Times on August 13, 1980

September 1, 1980 Lebanon Valley Speedway, West Lebanon, NY: J Geils Band/Fools (Monday) canceled
One more concert was booked at Lebanon Valley Speedway, for J. Geils Band to return on Labor Day. 250 people turned up at a town meeting--10% of the town's population. They got the town to ban the forthcoming concert and there was never another one at Lebanon Valley Speedway. The reason, ironically, was that the rock concert market had expanded too quickly for the tiny speedway. 5000 for the New Riders was great. 10,000-plus for J Geils was still manageable. 20,000 for the Cult and the Sabs--very much not OK.

The track remains open, and has generally thrived (given the financial uncertainty of auto racing venues). Over the next decade, new rock venues opened in Albany and Western Massachussets, so rock fans in Columbia County still saw bands, but not at home. Lebanon Valley Raceway still drops the green flag every Saturday night, starting in May, but Friday nights are quiet.