A few golden oldies...

Recently I've been visiting the "Fillmore Archives" on Facebook:  it is a collection of pictures and notes about Bill Graham's experiment in live music in NYC and SF between 1967-1971. I remember the Fillmore East as a place of great revelation for me so I've been inspired to see if there are any Youtube clips from bands I saw in concert.  Well, yes and no...

The first is a jazz-rock band I LOVED called Sweetwater:  they never made it big but put on a helluva show at the Fillmore.  This clip, from their first album, is their take on "Motherless Child."

The next hails from the Who's debut of "Tommy" in the USA - OMG what a show in October of 1969 - it was so hot that we went back again a week later.  What I remember is that the building next store to the Fillmore caught fire - but the Who wouldn't quit playing - and when a police man tried to get them off the stage Townsend went nuts.  He was arrested and the show came to a screeching halt.  No wonder we went back!

This guy, David Rea, opened for Leslie West and Felix Pappalardi's Mountain - and I couldn't get enough of him either.  His version of Robert Johnson's "Hell hound on My Trail" is to die for - but Youtube doesn't have it.  He was a great genre-bender who mixed country, blues and weird rock and roll to capture something of the era...

And then there was Frank Zappa: sweet Lord how many times did I see the Mothers of Invention at the Fillmore?  At least as many times as they played between 1967-1970.  Zappa was not only an incredible composer and guitarist - jazz or rock - but he was also a satirist who saw through the hype of the 60s and called out those who were listening to march to their own drummer.  Not many got it back then - we was totally in your face - but back in the day he challenged the greed of our consumer culture in ways that still rings true.

We used to take the train in to NYC to see some of the greatest acts live at the Fillmore: Country Joe and Fish, It's a Beautiful Day, Chuck Berry, Albert King, Dr. John and so many more.  Yes, I saw some crap, too:  how about Iron Butterfly?  And while I never got to see the Airplane or the Dead at the Fillmore - at other places yes, but not at the shrine - who can forget Hendrix?  What a treat...

Visiting with a young mom and her 1 year old today got me thinking of these golden oldies:  she said, "One of my favorite concerts EVER was Tom Petty.  There was an old stoner there - probably a Vietnam vet - who was just ancient but totally loving it."  I just smiled and thought that when my buddy from high school, Hal, joins our TGE practice tomorrow night we'll just think, "look homeward, angel."