4742 Mission Blvd, San Francisco The Rock Garden 1967 Sunday Dinner Shows

This intriguing clipping from the entertainment column in the San Mateo Times of December 8, 1967, has the following intriguing quote

Making a big hit with the early Sunday evening dancing crowd is the special $1.25 dinner at the Rock Garden on Mission near Ocean Avenue, in San Francisco.  The dinner and dancing to the great Tracy Brothers combo begins at 6 p.m., with minors welcome. Talent auditions for recording contracts are another popular Sunday Rock Garden feature

Although the location is not precise, this is almost certainly the same Rock Garden that was briefly a psychedelic rock venue for several weeks in March and April 1967, featuring Big Brother, The Grateful Dead and the Buffalo Springfield, among others. An April show featuring Country Joe and The Fish seems to have been canceled, and nothing surfaced afterwards about the club. Further research revealed that it turned into a club called The Ghetto, featuring Soul and Latin music, and that it was a foundational venue for the Latin Rock explosion in San Francisco that culminated with Santana and Malo breaking out onto the National scene.

When I wrote about the venue earlier, I made the point that when a Use Permit is in force, its easier for a promoter to use an existing entertainment venue rather than create a new one. Whoever the owners or promoters behind the original Rock Garden might have been, the club seems to have had a post-psychedelic period before it became The Ghetto. The Tracy Brothers are unknown to me--I wonder if anyone got a recording contract from the auditions? I am still searching for who might have been performing at The Rock Garden on nights other than Sunday.

While the San Mateo Times was a suburban newspaper, the Rock Garden was more accessible to much of the South Bay suburbs than it was to downtown San Francisco. The South Bay's main "strip," El Camino Real, turned into Mission Boulevard in San Francisco. A South Bay resident could drive up El Camino to Mission without having to go over the substantial hills between the Excelsior District and Downtown, so it makes sense that the interregnum Rock Garden was aiming for a suburban appeal.

The Tombstones (South Bay 1966)

The Tombstones played two South Bay Area clubs throughout much of 1966. One of them was Palo Alto's Big Beat Club, the first rock and roll establishment in Palo Alto--although the venue is more famous for its pre-opening party, an Acid Test featuring The Warlocks--and the other was a club called The Trip, a few miles up the main road in San Mateo.

Both clubs were owned by Yvonne Modica, who had shrewdly determined that there was a market for 20-somethings who liked beer and rock and roll. The tagline for The Trip was "A Journey Through LSD (Lights, Sounds and Delicious Pizza)." Both clubs have largely been lost in the history of Bay Area rock, since they had no direct connection to the underground scene that came to life at The Fillmore and The Avalon. Up until now, I have assumed that The Tombstones were just another dance band, playing several sets a night of danceable cover tunes, and perhaps they were.

However, although I have never heard their single, it is apparently well regarded amongst the knowledgeable. Their song was called "Tell It To A Tombstone, " and the newspaper blurb (from the San Mateo Times of June 24, 1966) breathlessly ads "with beatnik poetry lyrics." Although nothing else is known--by me or anyone else apparently--here is a picture of the group, published in the same edition of the San Mateo Times. They appear to be a nicely-suited 5-piece band. The woman in the bikini must be "gorgeous Go-Go gal Linda Kordes, who looks like a doll from Playboy Magazine."

Although The Tombstones remain obscure, they are now an obscure band with a picture. Research continues, one artifact at a time.

Washington at Murphy, Sunnyvale, CA: Wayne Manor 1966-67

How popular was ABC-TV's Batman show? While it only ran for two and a half seasons (Jan 12, 1966 to March 14, 1968), it was on twice a week for most of its run. It rapidly went from hip to camp to passe. When it was popular, however, it was a huge hit, in an era when there were only three TV channels, so its appeal cut a wide swath.

By the middle of 1966, there was a club in Sunnyvale called Wayne Manor, designed to look like the "Bat Cave" from the TV show. Mind you, this club sold drinks and was intended for adults. It was successful enough to stay open at least into the middle of 1967. I don't know exactly when the club closed, but the Batman show ended in early 1968, so I'm sure the club had closed or changed its name by then.

The top ad is from the July 22, 1966 edition of the San Mateo Times, and the lower one is from the October 21, 1966 San Mateo Times. Sunnyvale is the town just South of Mountain View, which in turn is just South of Palo Alto. Washington and Murphy is roughly between El Camino Real and Central Expressway (Alma), next to Los Altos Town Center and the train station (now the Cal Train station). Since there isn't a precise address, I can't say if the building is still standing.

Sometimes you will see 60s South Bay musicians refer to this club, although they usually call it "The Bat Cave." According to the San Mateo Times (October 21, 1966), the owner or manager of the club was named Joe Lewis. I believe Emilio Castilio's first band, The Gotham City Crimefighters, were regularly featured here, before he formed The Motowns, who then evolved into Tower of Power. In the various ads I have seen for the club, the only group I have heard of is The Music Machine, who were scheduled to play on October 25, 1966 (they were mentioned in a notice, but not in the weekly advertisement above).