Ah yes slaw, Battle Of The Bands! I was in a few myself while in High School. San Jose is considered ground zero for U.S.A. Garage Bands in the mid-to-late 60's, and that's who were in our BOTB, not national acts. Even our semi-national groups (The Syndicate Of Sound, People, The Chocolate Watchband, Stained Glass, The Count V) were not in the battles, only non-pro local groups and bands (including Fritz, whose members included Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham). Winning a battle (voted on by either a panel, or the audience) got you gigs via the local booking and talent agencies.
Live shows I wish I hadn't missed
A poster on the "favorite live shows" thread suggested a thread dedicated to shows that were missed, a topic that seems interesting to me. Though I’ve seen my fair share, there ARE a few I regret not having been present at. They are:
- Bob Dylan with The Hawks, at The San Jose Civic Auditorium in the Fall of 1965. I didn’t yet get Dylan, but later met and worked with a couple of guys who had and were at that show. Oh how I wish I had seen and heard them!
- The Band’s live debut at The Fillmore Auditorium in 1968. Their first live show as The Band (formerly The Hawks, of course), after the release of their game-changing Music From Big Pink album. I didn’t yet get them, so passed. Duh. Everyone was there, including big fans George Harrison and Ringo Starr, who flew over from England specifically for the shows.
- Bob Dylan with The Band, the 1974 Before The Flood World Tour, their first together since 1966. The live recordings are just great, I can only imagine what it was like in person. Tickets were by lottery only, and Bill Graham received ten times as many requests for the San Francisco show as there were seats. My ticket request was not chosen, damn it.
- The Last Waltz. I moved away from the Bay Area on November 1st, 1976, just in time to not be able to attend The Band’s farewell show at Winterland. Though I don’t care for about half their guests that night, it would have been nice to bid farewell to the original incarnation of one of the (if not The) greatest Rock ’n’ Roll bands of all time.
Other bands/solo artists I like or love, but somehow managed to never see live: Moby Grape, Buffalo Springfield, The Byrds, The Flying Burrito Brothers, Fleetwood Mac, and Little Feat. Emmylou Harris, Buddy Miller, Loudon Wainwright III, The Everly Brothers, Chuck Berry, Elvis, Roy Orbison, Little Richard, and Jerry Lee Lewis.
When I lived in Sherman Oaks, CA, I got to know another resident you may know of, songwriter/singer Billy Swan (he had a hit with his song "I Can Help"). He told me he saw Elvis, Scotty Moore, and Bill Black perform on the back of a flatbed truck in Tennessee in 1955. Wouldn’t that have been somethin’?! I’m also too young to have seen Buddy Holly, Eddie Cochran, Hank Williams, Howlin’ Wolf, and The (Johnny Burnette) Rock ’n’ Roll Trio.
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