1505 San Pablo Avenue, Berkeley, CA: New Orleans Performers List, October-December 1967 ('67 Berkeley X)

 

 

A poster for the Youngbloods and Paul Arnoldi at Berkeley's New Orleans House, November 27-29, 1967

In early 1966 the live rock concert market exploded in San Francisco, thanks to Bill Graham at the Fillmore Auditorium and Chet Helms at the nearby Avalon Ballroom. The city of Berkeley, and the University of California there, provided a significant number of the fans for the San Francisco ballrooms. It was no surprise that Berkeley rapidly had a live rock scene of its own. Throughout 1966 there had been various efforts to establish live rock venues in Berkeley, largely unsuccessful. In January of 1967, however, Berkeley had its first nightclub primarily devoted to live rock bands playing original music. 

[This is the last in a series of 1967 Berkeley posts originally presented on Ross Hannan's Berkeley In The Sixties blog. Ross, a friend, co-conspirator and inspirational scholar, died on November 9, 2024, mourned by all who knew him and many who did not. Since the fate of Ross' blog cannot be predicted, I am publishing the final post in my own blog. Hoist a pint or light one up for Ross]

1505 San Pablo Avenue in Berkeley, the site of New Orleans House, as it appeared in 2009. I do not know of any photos of the exterior, interior or stage of New Orleans House from when the club was open.

The New Orleans House, in North Berkeley at 1505 San Pablo Avenue, between Jones and Hopkins Streets, only held about 200 patrons. But it served beer and wine, there was a dance floor and sometimes even a light show. So it was kind of like a miniature Avalon, if the Avalon had offered beer and dinner. There weren't yet that many rock bands in Berkeley, but there weren't really many places to play, either. As part of my survey of 1967 rock music in Berkeley, I am looking at every performer at the New Orleans House during that year (see below for links). My prior post reviewed New Orleans House performers from July to September 1967. This post will look at New Orleans House performers from October through December 1967. If anyone has additional information, corrections, photos, insights or recovered memories, please include them in the Comments. Flashbacks encouraged. 

Berkeley Barb ad for New Orleans House, September 29, 1967

September 29-30, October 1, 1967 New Orleans House, Berkeley, CA: Morning Glory (Friday-Sunday)
New Orleans House was on San Pablo Avenue, near the Berkeley border and the Alameda County line. It was North of campus--"Northside" in local parlance--which was more sedate than the more raucous Southside. Telegraph Avenue, the riots and the undergraduates were all Southside.  Southside was for undergraduates. Northside was more oriented towards assistant professors and graduate students, with no riots. The Gilman Street neighborhood where the club was located was accessible both to campus and to San Francisco via Transbay buses, and just below (West) of the "Northside" neighborhood of the UC Campus.

Music generally began at New Orleans House at 9:30, even on weeknights, which seems late. But in fact the club served dinner from 5:00-9:00pm, and happy hour was from 8:00-9:00, where beer was just 75 cents a pitcher. So the club was also a restaurant and hangout for the neighborhood, separate from being just an entertainment venue. It was mostly open six nights a week, closed on Thursdays. Owner Kitty Griffin had run a restaurant on College Avenue (Kitty's) for a while, so she knew the Berkeley market. She also taught handicapped children during the day for the Contra Costa School district, and New Orleans House was her night gig.

Two Suns Worth, by Morning Glory, released on Fontana Records 1968

Morning Glory was a Mill Valley band with a sort of Jefferson Airplane sound. Since the Airplane were huge in 1967, those sort of groups got signed, and Morning Glory would put out the album Two Suns Worth on Fontana in 1968   The back cover was photographed on a cable car, just to ensure that no one missed the San Francisco connection.  The album isn’t bad, but its not that memorable.  Bassist Bob Bohanna wrote most of the songs, and shared the vocals with Gini Graybeal.

October 2-4, 1967 New Orleans House, Berkeley, CA: Steve Miller Band (Monday-Wednesday)
It was commonplace at folk clubs to have a Hoot Night (short for "Hootenanny") early in the week. The general format was that a "host" would perform a few songs, and aspiring locals could get up and sing a few songs. It was a way for amateurs to have some fun, and for aspiring professionals to get heard. The likes of Bob Dylan and Linda Ronstadt were first heard (in Greenwich Village and West Hollywood, respectively) at a Hoot. Berkeley folkies had attended the regular Hoot at the Jabberwock until it had closed in July of 1967.

Later in the Summer, the New Orleans House added "Guest Night" on Monday nights, hosted by folksinger Larry Hanks, who had also hosted the Jabberwock hoot. New Orleans House pointedly called it "Guest Night." The ad said "Folk Music, Poetry, Variety" to distinguish it from an exclusively folk music event. Berkeley hippies weren't against folk music--they mostly liked it--but they didn't want to see themselves as square, aging "Folkies," so Guest Night broadened the options. I have no idea who actually may have performed.

New Orleans House "Guest Night" also included a late night set by a rock band. "Dancing to Rock Bands 11:30-1:30" was also code for "not just folk music." Usually a regular band played the late set, but this week featured the Steve Miller Band. The Steve Miller Band had been playing New Orleans House since early in 1967, and by this time they were major attractions at the Fillmore and Avalon, with record companies hovering around. But the Miller Band worked hard, gigging every night if they could, so they were always willing to play New Orleans House on weeknights. Steve Miller and Boz Scaggs were out in front of the band, singing and playing guitars. Jim Peterman was on organ, with Tim Davis on drums and vocals, both old pals of Miller from Madison, WI. Berkeley's Lonnie Turner played bass.

Berkeley Barb ad for New Orleans House, October 6, 1967

October 6-8, 1967 New Orleans House, Berkeley, CA: Flamin’ Groovies (Friday-Sunday)
The Flamin’ Groovies were a few years younger than the first wave of Fillmore and Avalon musicians, but had still been connected to the scene from the beginning.  The Groovies had continued to play in the British Invasion style that preceded the acid-tinged jamming that characterized the Fillmore scene. The Groovies short rock songs and snotty attitude were not popular in San Francisco, and opinions remain divided about them.  The group intermittently broke up and reformed over the next few decades. When punk hit a decade later, the Groovies were seen as precursors, but despite popularity in England and elsewhere they remained (and remain) small beer in San Francisco and the Bay Area. The Groovies had already played a few weekends at New Orleans House earlier in 1967, so the fact that they were still getting booked meant they must have built an audience there.

October 9, 1967 New Orleans House, Berkeley, CA: Guest Night/Short Yellow (Monday)
The Barb ad just listed "Guest Night" as "Hoot," perhaps giving in to the inevitable. The late night band was Short Yellow. Short Yellow had recorded some demos at Golden State Recorders in 1967 ("Highway Highway" and "Start Seeing"). The group featured singer Sandy Gurley, and the two tracks were released on the Big Beat compilation What A Way To Come Down. Sandy Gurley would later release a solo album on Tower in 1968.

October 10-11, 1967 New Orleans House, Berkeley, CA: Quicksilver Messenger Service/Congress of Wonders (Tuesday-Wednesday)
Quicksilver Messenger Service were already headliners at both the Avalon and the Fillmore, and had little need to play the New Orleans House. After this date, however, numerous lesser groups that shared management with Quicksilver started to play the New Orleans House, so I believe that this show was a quid pro quo, since Quicksilver surely packed the place even on a weeknight. Capitol Records was on the verge of signing Quicksilver, although there debut album would not come out until May 1968.

Quicksilver Messenger Service’s manager was a shrewd Chicagoan named Ron Polte.  Polte was friends with Nick Gravenites and Paul Butterfield and was primarily responsible for the many connections between Chicago and San Francisco musicians.  Polte also had a booking agency called West-Pole. Polte's partner in West-Pole was former Big Brother manager Julius Karpen, who had been supplanted by Albert Grossman (Bob Dylan's manager). West-Pole booked numerous act, including Quicksilver, Congress of Wonders, Freedom Highway, The Sons of Champlin, The Ace of Cups and Phoenix. They also seem to have handled West Coast booking for Albert Grossman's acts, including Big Brother and Electric Flag. 

Congress Of Wonders released their debut album Revolting on Fantasy Records in 1970

Congress Of Wonders were a comedy trio from Berkeley, initially from the UC Berkeley drama department and later part of Berkeley’s Open Theater on College Avenue, a prime spot for what were called “Happenings” (today ‘Performance Art’).  Congress Of Wonders also performed at the Avalon and other rock venues.

Ultimately a duo, Karl Truckload (Howard Kerr) and Winslow Thrill (Richard Rollins) created two Congress of Wonders albums on Fantasy, Revolting (1970) and Sophomoric ('72). Their pieces “Pigeon Park” and “Star Trip”, although charmingly dated now, were staples of San Francisco underground radio at the time. Earl Pillow (Wesley Hind) was the original third member.

Berkeley Barb ad for New Orleans House, October 13, 1967

October l3-14, 1967: New Orleans House, Berkeley, CA Freedom Highway/Congress of Wonders (Friday-Saturday)
Congress Of Wonders, as Berkeley locals, seemed to have enough heft to headline the weekend. They were joined by another West-Pole affiliated band. I believe this was the implicit deal for Ron Polte: Quicksilver packing the house on two weeknights in return for his up-and-coming groups getting booked for the weekend.

Freedom Highway had formed in the Haight Ashbury in 1965, and may have opened for the Buffalo Springfield at the Fillmore in November 1966 (local bands often opened shows yet did not appear on the poster).  By 1967, the group had moved to Marin, and contrary to almost every other San Francisco group, became a power trio influenced by English groups like The Who.  Richie Ray Harris was the guitarist, Scott Inglis played bass and Bruce Brymer played drums. Freedom Highway was under the West Pole management umbrella and lasted until 1970.  In 2002 Switzerland’s RD Records released a CD of Freedom Highway demos called Made In 68.

October 15, 1967 New Orleans House, Berkeley, CA: The Black Messengers (Afro Jazz 5-9pm)/Rock & Blues Jam Session (Musicians Invited 9:30-2 am) (Sunday)
Another informal tradition was started at New Orleans House, namely Sunday jazz shows. Berkeley had no jazz club, and the sort of assistant professor/grad student types who liked jazz probably lived Northside anyway (and they probably still do, but that's another issue). I don't know who was in The Black Messengers, nor exactly what may have constituted "Afro-Jazz." My suspicion was that there was a conga drummer in the band.

The Black Messengers were followed by a jam session. Some musicians must have hosted the jam, but I don't know who. The Sunday jams the next few weeks were hosted by the band Short Yellow.

October 16, 1967 New Orleans House, Berkeley, CA: Short Yellow/The Time Being (Monday)
The "Hoot" or "Guest Night" seems to have disappeared. Within a year, the Freight & Salvage would open a few blocks away, and Hoot Night would reappear on San Pablo Avenue.

The Time Being is unknown to me. Good name, though.

October 17-18, 1967 New Orleans House, Berkeley, CA: Strawberry Jam (Tuesday-Wednesday)
Strawberry Jam is unknown to me. There had been an Oakland band called Strawberry Window that had played New Orleans House earlier in the year. Strawberry Window would change their name to Dandelion Wine, so perhaps this was an intermediate name.

October 20-21, 1967 New Orleans House, Berkeley, CA: The Zuckerman Clavichord/Paul Arnoldi (Friday-Saturday)  
The Zuckerman Clavichord was a local group that local guitarist Bob Zuckerman (in both Motor and later Deacon And The Suprelles) was not a member. They were a trio featuring Jeff Baker on electric clavichord, Geoff Ohlsonn on electric bass and Peter Joseph on drums. They played original songs with vocals, but I don't know what they actually sounded like (they did appear once on KPFA on May 16 1968).

Paul Arnoldi had been a folksinger/bluegrass musician in Cambridge, MA, but he had come to UC Berkeley to get a graduate degree in architecture. He was a songwriter by this time, and he wrote and played in what he called a "Prairie style." 

There were almost no clubs in the Bay Area that booked original rock music, really just New Orleans House, the Matrix in San Francisco and The Poppycock in Palo Alto. But the concert business was booming, so almost every band was booked somewhere during the weekend, making it hard for New Orleans House to get established bands on Friday and Saturday.

There are no Barb listings, nor an ad for the week of October 21-28. I don't read anything into that. Any temporary closure would likely have been announced. I think an advertising deadline was missed, and some regulars played the weekend.

Berkeley Barb ad, October 27, 1967

October 27-28, 1967 New Orleans House, Berkeley, CA: The Zuckerman Clavichord/Paul Arnoldi (Friday-Saturday)
The previous weekend's headliners were booked again.

October 29, 1967 New Orleans House, Berkeley, CA: The Black Messengers (5-9 pm)/Short Yellow and Jam Session (9:30-2:00 am) (Sunday)

October 31-November 1, 1967: New Orleans House, Berkeley, CA Miller Blues Band (Tuesday-Wednesday)
The Steve Miller Band returned to New Orleans House for a final time, playing on Halloween and the night after. They were incorrectly billed under their early '67 name "Miller Blues Band." Steve had dropped the "Blues" part of his name a few months earlier, as the band had broadened their sound. Yet it was appropriate that the last booking at New Orleans House for the Steve Miller Band was under the same umbrella as the first one, as they traveled on to bigger and better things.

The Steve Miller Band had been signed to Capitol, who would send them to London to record their debut album. The classic Children Of The Future would be released in April 1968. The Sailor album followed at the end of '68, after which Boz Scaggs had left the group. Both Boz and the Miller Band went on to staggering success in the 1970s, a long climb from the corner of San Pablo Avenue and Hopkins Street.

Tuesday night was a Halloween Costume Party. The Bay Area loves, loves, loves Halloween, always has, always will. Some locals must have dressed up that night as zombies, or "Ronnie Raygun," and gone out to New Orleans House for Halloween . A decade later, when some of those couples, now married, may have been driving in their Volvo station wagon, hearing "Fly Like An Eagle" or "Lido Shuffle" on the radio, did they recall dancing to Steve and Boz doing "Junior Saw It Happen" and "Baby's Calling Me Home"?

November 2, 1967: New Orleans House, Berkeley, CA Graham Leath Productions (Thursday)
From here on, New Orleans House was once again open on Thursday nights, but closed on Mondays. The "Hoots" were probably passe, and not a draw for a rock club. Interestingly, however, New Orleans House booked a dance troupe on Thursday nights. 

A unique feature of Berkeley rock clubs in the 1960s was how regularly they booked theater and dance troupes. Now, it was common for rock clubs everywhere to book a little jazz, folk and blues on off nights. There weren't always enough rock bands to go around, particularly in the '60s, and rock fans usually had some residual interest in other music, so it made sense to have other genres on weeknights. But theater and dance was something different entirely. Yet New Orleans House, along with The Steppenwolf and later Mandrake's (both several blocks South on San Pablo Avenue) regularly booked theater and dance. These troupes were usually "progressive," and sometimes political, not just performing old musicals, but it wasn't rock nor even music.

In 1967, New Orleans House regularly booked a troupe called the Graham Leath dancers. The Graham Leath company was a collaboration between John Graham and A.A. Leath. I won't try and go into a dance rabbit hole, but Leath was apparently a unique and independent creative force, just like the rock bands carving out their own musical futures. A.A. Leath had been part of Anna Halprin's dance school, who had her own deep ties to the Haight-Ashbury arts community.  His dance company partnership with John Graham seems to have been formally presented here as Graham Leath Productions. New Orleans House had booked the dance company regularly on Thursday nights throughout the Spring. After a hiatus, Graham Leath Productions returned to perform many Thursdays in the Fall of 1967.

Berkeley Barb ad for New Orleans House, November 3, 1967

November 3-4, 1967 New Orleans House, Berkeley, CA:Charlie Musselwhite Band (Friday-Saturday)
Harmonica player Charlie Musselwhite had led a blues band in Chicago, sharing the front line with guitarist Harvey Mandel. Both were white, but they had a black rhythm section, similar to their friends in The Butterfield Blues Band. Musselwhite had been born in Mississippi and had then moved to Memphis, and ultimately Chicago.  He was one of a small number of white musicians in Chicago (including Nick Gravenites, Paul Butterfield, Mike Bloomfield, Elvin Bishop and a few others) who stumbled onto the blues scene by themselves.

Musselwhite eventually recorded an album for Vanguard in 1967 called Stand Back, which had started to receive airplay on San Francisco’s new underground FM station, KMPX-fm. As a result of his friendship with the Chicago crowd who had moved to San Francisco, Musselwhite's band was offered a month of work in San Francisco. Musselwhite took a month’s leave from his day job and stayed for a couple of decades.

By the end of 1967, Harvey Mandel had moved on to his own thriving musical career, but Musselwhite had become a regular performer in the Bay Area. I believe Musselwhite's guitarist at this time was young Tim Kaihatsu, who would go on to have an excellent career as a blues musician in the Bay Area.

November 5, 1967 New Orleans House, Berkeley, CA: The Black Messengers (5-9pm)/Short Yellow & Guest Musicians (9:30-2am) (Sunday)

November 7-8, 1967 New Orleans House, Berkeley, CA: Hair (Tuesday-Wednesday)
The Barb ad says “The Darby Slick Band,” to distinguish this from the then-current Broadway musical. Hair was a short-lived San Francisco band featuring singer Jean Piersol and guitarist Darby Slick.  Slick had been in The Great Society (his brother had married the former Grace Wing) and had co-written “Somebody To Love.” Also in the band were saxophonist Terry Clements, bassist Bing Nathan and drummer John Oxendine (there was apparently another member named Henry Salas, too).

November 9, 1967 New Orleans House, Berkeley, CA: Graham Leath Productions (Thursday)

Berkeley Barb ad for New Orleans House, November 10, 1967

November 10-11, 1967 New Orleans House, Berkeley, CA Morning Glory/Short Yellow (Friday-Saturday)

November 12, 1967 New Orleans House, Berkeley, CA: The Black Messengers (5-9pm)/Short Yellow & Guest Musicians (9:30-2am) (Sunday)

November 14-15, 1967 New Orleans House, Berkeley, CA: Liberty Street (Tuesday-Wednesday)
Liberty Street was so named because the group lived on Liberty Street in San Francisco.  One member (bassist Mike Friedman) had been in a Berkeley High School group called The Answer.

November 16, 1967 New Orleans House, Berkeley, CA: Graham Leath Productions (Thursday)

Berkeley Barb ad for New Orleans House, November 17, 1967

November 17-18, 1967 New Orleans House, Berkeley, CA: Gale Garnett & The Gentle Reign/The Black Messengers (Friday-Saturday)
Gale Garnett was born in New Zealand, and after a variety of family difficulties her family re-settled in Canada at age 11.   She moved to New York and became an actress, and then moved to California.  While Garnett guest starred in numerous TV shows, she also had a folk-singing career. She had a 1964 hit called “We'll Sing In The Sunshine,’ for which she won a Grammy.  She mostly focused on her singing career in the 60s and was primarily located in the Bay Area. Garnett was talented at both singing and acting, but of course, the fact that she was a knockout helped a lot.

An Audience with The King Of Wands, by Gale Garnett & Gentle Reign. Their debut folk-rock album would be released by Columbia in 1968.

In late 1967, Garnett moved from folk music to "folk-rock," leading the group Gentle Reign. Their initial 1968 album on Columbia would be called An Audience With The King Of Wands. The 1969 followup was Sausalito Heliport. The Sausalito Heliport was a failed business venture--private helicopters turned out not to be a thing, sadly--but many Fillmore bands rehearsed there, including the Grateful Dead. In a heliport, no one cares if you are a loud rock band.  

In the 1970s Garnett returned to Canada and focused on acting. She remains a professional actress with a wide variety of credits (she appeared in the movie My Big Fat Greek Wedding, to name just one).

November 19, 1967 New Orleans House, Berkeley, CA: The Black Messengers (5-9pm)/Short Yellow & Jam (9:30-2am) (Sunday)

November 21-22, 1967 New Orleans House, Berkeley, CA: Charles Musselwhite Band/Congress of Wonders (Tuesday-Wednesday)

November 23-25, 1967 New Orleans House, Berkeley, CA: Hair/Congress of Wonders (Thursday-Saturday)
The band Hair did not last song. Darby Slick and singer Jean Piersol would go to Chicago, where Darby would produce two Piersol singles for Cadet Concept Records. Note that the bands are booked for Thursday night, which was Thanksgiving. Berkeley in the 60s had a lot of people far from home, so going out on Thanksgiving was well within the norm.

November 27-29, 1967: New Orleans House, Berkeley, CA: Youngbloods/Paul Arnoldi (Tuesday-Thursday)
The Youngbloods were a Boston and New York folk-rock band in the mode of the Lovin' Spoonful.  Lead singer and bassist Jesse Colin Young (nee Perry Miller from Queens) had released two solo albums by 1966, one of which had been called Young Blood.  The band had now been signed to RCA, and they had released their first album as a band for RCA in early 1967. In June 1967, Young and the rest of the band (singer-guitarist Jerry Corbitt, pianist/dobro player Lowell "Banana" Levenger and drummer Joe Bauer) were booked for six weeks on the West Coast. It went so well that the Youngbloods moved to Marin County in September 1967. Around that time, RCA released Earth Music, the Youngbloods' second album.

The early Youngbloods were much more bluesy than their lighter, better known work a few years later would suggest. It is a little-noticed fact that the Youngbloods' famous recording of Dino Valenti’s “Get Together” had actually appeared on the first RCA album in late 1966.  It was a modest hit single, but did not attract much attention until 1969. Valenti was well known around the scene, and both The We Five and The Jefferson Airplane (among others) had already recorded the song. While they were booked for many weekend concerts up and down the Coast, the Youngbloods often found time to play weeknight gigs at clubs like New Orleans House and the Poppycock.

Berkeley Barb ad for New Orleans House, December 1, 1967

December 1, 1967 New Orleans House, Berkeley, CA: Ace of Cups,/”Xmas Carol” by Congress of Wonders (Friday)
The Ace Of Cups had formed in San Francisco in the Summer of 1967.   While they played fine original music and had well-crafted songs with excellent harmonies, they are mainly remembered for being the only all-woman group on the Fillmore scene.  By late 1967, Ace Of Cups were managed by Ron Polte and booked by West Pole. The band lived in Tam Valley in Marin.  Denise Kaufman, the primary songwriter in the group, had gone to Berkeley High with the son of New Orleans House owner Kitty Griffin.

Kaufman, however, despite only being in her early 20s, had already had a remarkable history. Soon after high school, she had joined up with Ken Kesey’s gang of Merry Pranksters (she appears in Tom Wolfe’s Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test as ‘Mary Microgram’).  After breaking up with boyfriend Jann Wenner (future Rolling Stone publisher), she moved to the San Bruno Mountains and joined the remains of a group called The Frantics.  

The Frantics changed their name to Luminous Marsh Gas and played some obscure joints on the El Camino Real in the South Bay.  Kaufman sang for the group, as well as playing some guitar and harmonica. The other members were all from Seattle:  guitarist Jerry Miller, drummer Don Stevenson and organist Chuck Schoening.  Schoening subsequently joined a different commune in the Mountains and became part of the group Anonymous Artists of America.  Miller and Stevenson went on to form the legendary Moby Grape  (the entire story is detailed in Patrick Lundborg’s fine article in Shindig #7).

It's Bad For You But Buy It, the 2003 cd on Big Beat of demos and live tracks recorded by Ace Of Cups in the 1960s

West-Pole booked Ace Of Cups all over the Bay Area in the 1960s, usually paired with other West-Pole bands (as they were this night in Berkeley). Polte was too coy with record companies, however, and Ace of Cups was never signed. Despite their local popularity and substantial talent, the Ace of Cups never recorded while they were still an active band.  Good taste won out, however, and a scant 36 years after their formation, Big Beat released a fine CD of the group’s demos and live recordings in 2003. Just 15 years later, Ace Of Cups released their first studio album and commenced a world tour (if your world is Marin County). 

December 2, 1967 New Orleans House, Berkeley, CA: Ace of Cups/Savage Resurrection (Saturday)
Savage Resurrection were a mostly teenage band from nearby Richmond.  They would release an album on Mercury in 1968 (subsequently re-released as a CD on Mod Lang in 1998).

December 3, 1967 New Orleans House, Berkeley, CA: The Black Messengers (5-9pm)/Short Yellow (9:30) (Sunday)

December 5-6, 1967 New Orleans House, Berkeley, CA: Clover/The Natural 7 (Tuesday-Wednesday)
The New Orleans House was becoming not only a regular gig for East Bay bands, but for Marin County groups as well.  While this was partially a result of the profusion of West-Pole groups (while West-Pole offices were on Martha Street in San Francisco, most of their bands lived in Marin), it was also a function of the fact that bucolic Marin had very few paying gigs.  A Mill Valley band like Clover could easily exhaust what few gigs there were in Marin County, but they were not yet established enough to be San Francisco regulars.

Clover was a rarity in 1967, a Marin band that whose members were actually from Marin County. In early 1967, the Mill Valley band Tiny Hearing Aid Company had featured John McFee on lead guitar, Alex Call on guitar and lead vocals, Bob McFee on bass and Mitch Howie on drums. In mid-67, Bob McFee had moved over to become lead guitarist in Flying Circus, another Mill Valley band. John Ciambotti, formerly of The Outfit, had joined, Tiny Hearing Aid became Clover. The Outfit weren't well-known, but they had rehearsed at the Straight Theater, so they were well hooked into the SF rock underground. Clover's debut was apparently July 4, 1967. 

Clover had a long, complicated career. Its members were mostly successful, but not while they were in Clover. Throughout the band's 10 years of existence, they played Berkeley as much as anywhere, but they started at New Orleans House.

The Natural 7 is unknown to me.

December 7, 1967 New Orleans House, Berkeley, CA: Graham Leath Productions (Thursday)

December 8-9, 1967 New Orleans House, Berkeley, CA: The Loading Zone/Robert Baker (Friday-Saturday)
The Loading Zone had been Oakland's first export to the Fillmore scene. The band had formed out of the ashes of a Berkeley band called The Marbles. In 1966, The Marbles had fallen apart, so they had merged with the remnants of the jazzy Tom Paul Trio. Guitarists Steve Dowler and Pete Shapiro shared the front line with organist and singer Paul Fauerso. Loading Zone was the first of the  ballroom bands to merge psychedelic rock with R&B, with long feedback-drenched solos on top of a funky beat. Ballroom crowds loved it, and Loading Zone showed promoters and musicians that the sound would work. The Zone kicked open the door that was walked through by Sly And The Family Stone and then Tower Of Power. Loading Zone's unheralded history is complex, but we have looked at it at great length.

The Loading Zone often had a horn section that played with them, although in smaller clubs there was often no room for them on stage.  The players were probably Todd Anderson on tenor sax and Pat O’Hara on trombone.  Their roadie, high school student Steve Kupka, played baritone sax when there was room on the stage, and if he was allowed into the venue. Todd Anderson shared vocals with organist Paul Fauerso. At one point in late '67 (the exact chronology is unclear, even to us) they had a female vocalist (possibly named Suzanne Lewis), but she did not last.

Robert Baker was a comedian.

December 10, 1967 New Orleans House, Berkeley, CA: The Black Messengers (5-9pm)/Short Yellow (9:30) (Sunday)

December 12-13, 1967 New Orleans House, Berkeley, CA: Ball-Point Banana (Tuesday-Wednesday)
Ball-Point Banana is unknown to me.

December 14, 1967 New Orleans House, Berkeley, CA: Graham Leath Productions (Thursday)

December 15-16, 1967 New Orleans House, Berkeley, CA: Morning Glory/T&A Rhythm & Blues Band (Friday-Saturday)
Supporting the Morning Glory this weekend were the oddly-named T&A Rhythm & Blues Band. The T&A Rhythm and Blues Band featured bassist John Kahn, saxophonist Ron Stallings, guitarist Bob Jones and drummer John Chambers. Stallings and Jones sang. Bob Jones had been in the folk-rock group the We Five ("You Were On My Mind"), and Chambers had been their drummer. Stallings was also an actor, and had been a leading player in the San Francisco Mime Troupe.  Kahn had come to the San Francisco Conservatory in Fall '66 to receive formal training in the bass. A roommate, however (probably Chuck Schoning), persuaded him to rent an electric and play soul music in Top 40 clubs. Somewhere--probably a jam--Kahn had met Jones.

The silly name was just a goof on absurd psychedelic band names. The group mostly played soul music, like Sam & Dave songs. The band later evolved into the more bluesy Memory Pain. The band lived together, and sometimes when Kahn would go to jam sessions, he would encourage Jones to bring John Chambers' drums, even though he had no training as a drummer. Ultimately, Bob Jones was hired by Mike Bloomfield as a drummer, so in effect Jones was, in his words "Kahned into drumming."

December 17, 1967 New Orleans House, Berkeley, CA: The Black Messengers (5-9pm)/Short Yellow (9:30) (Sunday)

December 19-20, 1967 New Orleans House, Berkeley, CA: Celestial Hysteria (Tuesday-Wednesday)
Celestial Hysteria was a Berkeley band, and they had played the Straight Theater and the North Beach club DinoCarlo's, among other venues.  The organist was John Barsotti, later a Professor of Broadcast Arts and Communications at San Francisco State University. No doubt Professor Barsotti is a relative of the many Berkeley Barsotti’s who played a critical role in the Bill Graham Presents organization.

According to Professor Barsotti (in an email to Gray Newell):

Celestial Hysteria had a male lead singer named Greg Renfro who later left the band and was replaced with a female singer named Mary Lou Hazelwood.  The band also consisted of Buddy Greer on traps, Mark Buvelot on Bass, John Formosa and Jim Logue on Guitar (later a guy named John Allen also on guitar), and I played Hammond organ.  We recorded and played shows from 1967-69…  I believe I am the only member of the band that stayed in the music Industry.

There was apparently some record company interest in 1968, and the band recorded some demos, but the band members were minors and their parents refused to sign a contract, so the deal went no further. 

December 21, 1967 New Orleans House, Berkeley, CA: Flamin' Groovies (Thursday)
December 22-23, 1967 New Orleans House, Berkeley, CA: Flamin' Groovies/Country Weather (Friday-Saturday)
Country Weather was a Walnut Creek (Contra Costa County) group, from just over the Berkeley Hills. They had originally been called The Virtues, but soon after lead guitarist Greg Douglass joined, they changed their name to Country Weather. This was probably one of their earlier gigs as Country Weather.

Country Weather never released a record when they were together from 1967-73   Since the group was familiar from many posters from 1968 onward, Country Weather became one of the great "lost" San Francisco groups of the 1960s.  Ultimately, the group reformed in the 21st century and still performs occasionally.  RD Records released a vinyl edition of some of their 60s demos and live performances.

Greg Douglass became a successful guitarist in the Bay Area, best known for co-writing “Jungle Love” for Steve Miller, with whom he played for many years. Douglass was also a member of Hot Tuna for one brief, sensational tour in Spring 1975.

Berkeley Barb ad for New Orleans House, December 29, 1967

December 29-31, 1967 New Orleans House, Berkeley, CA Charlie Musselwhite Blues Band/Congress of Wonders (Friday-Sunday)
New Orleans House first year as a rock club ended with some regular performers, as Charlie Musselwhite and Congress Of Wonders had been booked there many times. The live rock market was booming, in Berkeley as well as everywhere else, and opportunities looked promising for 1968.

[In the future, since these posts were on Ross' blog, they may only be accessible on a Wayback Machine]

For the previous post in the '67 Berkeley series (Berkeley concerts, July-December 1967), see here

1505 San Pablo Avenue, Berkeley, CA: Performers List January-March 1967 ('67 Berkeley I)

1505 San Pablo Avenue, Berkeley, CA: Performers List April-June 1967 ('67 Berkeley IV)

1505 San Pablo Avenue, Berkeley, CA: Performers List July-September 1967 ('67 Berkeley VII)

For the Berkeley, Oakland and East Bay Rock History Navigation Tracker, see here

Chicken On A Unicycle

 

 

 

 

 

660 Great Highway, San Francisco, CA: Friends And Relations Hall 1971-72 (after The Family Dog, FDGH Part 50)

The Family Dog on The Great Highway, ca 1969, formerly Topsy's Roost and the Edgewater Ballroom, and later Friends And Relations Hall, at 660 Great Highway in San Francisco

 

The Edgewater Ballroom, part of the San Francisco amusement park Playland-At-The Beach, and located at 660 Great Highway, had been open since at least 1930. In 1969, Chet Helms had relocated his Family Dog concert operation from the Avalon Ballroom to the Edgewater. Helms had renamed the venue The Family Dog on The Great Highway. The venue had opened with much fanfare on June 13, 1969, with Jefferson Airplane headlining to a packed house. Although a beautiful venue in a great location, Helms was undercapitalized and the Ballroom was too small for the era. There was some great music, but the Family Dog on The Great Highway never lived up to its promise. 

The Family Dog on The Great Highway had struggled along for 14 months, but it folded on August 22, 1970, after a concert by Quicksilver Messenger Service. I wrote about the music and shows at the Family Dog on The Great Highway in great detail. If the Family Dog had established a jam band palace on San Francisco's Ocean Beach in the 21st century, financed by Cannabis merchants, it would have been a massive success. But Playland had closed on Labor Day, 1972, and the adjoining Edgewater Ballroom was razed shortly afterwards. 

While the Family Dog on The Great Highway had closed in August 1970, the building itself was still in use for another two years. Esteemed scholar David Kramer-Smyth was kind enough to identify all the events at 660 Great Highway after the Family Dog closed. Given the extensive efforts I made to document the Dog's Ocean Beach adventures, it seemed appropriate to complete the loop by reviewing all the rock shows afterwards, along with at least mentioning the other theatrical events.

Playland was in San Francisco's Ocean Beach neighborhood. Ocean Beach, at the edge of the city, was essentially in an isolated suburb, with plenty of teenagers and potential rock music fans nearby, but a long way from the broader population of the Bay Area. Google maps is a little misleading if you don't know the area. The Ocean Beach neighborhood is sealed off from the rest of the Bay Area's Peninsula by some difficult hills. East Bay residents, in turn, while not a huge number of miles away, would need to cross the Bay Bridge and pass through all of San Francisco to get to Playland. The same traffic realities had boxed in the Family Dog. Thus Ocean Beach was a specialized destination, mostly just for locals. 

In the two years between the closing of the Family Dog and the razing of the old Edgewater Ballroom, various rock shows and theatrical performances were put on at Playland. Some of them were probably pretty good, actually, but 660 Great Highway was always the last choice, the venue that got used when nothing else was available. The chronicle of the venue that I have constructed for this period is a bit sad, but it's still a helpful look at the outlying tendrils of the San Francisco rock music scene from 1970 through '72.

Thanks to David Kramer-Smyth for making this post possible. Anyone with additional information, corrections, insights or recovered memories, please included them in the Comments.

September 18, 1970 Playland At The Beach Ballroom, San Francisco, CA: Miss American Vampire Contest  (Friday)
Playland-At-The-Beach had opened in 1913, on San Francisco's Great Highway between Balboa and Fulton Streets. Playland's fortunes had declined considerably by 1970, but the amusement park was still open. The former Edgewater Ballroom was at the edge of the park, so clients did not have to enter the park to see events there.

Since most of the clients of Playland itself were teenagers or even younger, the "Family Dog" ballroom name had little meaning, so this event was advertised as being at "Playland At The Beach Ballroom." The Miss American Vampire Contest was promoting the new movie House Of Dark Shadows, based on the ABC-tv Soap Opera Dark Shadows. Dark Shadows was a popular 5-day-a-week soap opera. It aired at 3:30 p.m., late enough for kids to watch it after school. Dark Shadows surrounded the doings of one Barnabas Collins, a two-hundred year old vampire, along with assorted witches, werewolves and--I kid you not--the I Ching. 

House Of Dark Shadows was a feature film made to capitalize on the TV show. The official release date of the movie (per Wikipedia) was October 28, 1970, so the opening at Loew's SF on September 23 must have been some kind of pre-release event (I have actually seen the movie, but it's too much of a rabbit hole to go into here). 

October 10, 1970 Family Dog On The Great Highway, San Francisco, CA: AB Skhy/Schon/King Klyde (Saturday)
October 11, 1970 Family Dog On The Great Highway, San Francisco, CA: BADC/Westwind/Cerith Ungle (Sunday)
Update 20241116: Fellow scholar JGMF sent in a number of additional dates

These two shows, advertised as "Family Dog On The Great Highway," were misnomers, since Chet Helms had closed his operation. But he didn't have the resources to sue, and in any case the old "Family Dog" sign was probably on the marquee. I don't know who promoted the shows.

AB Skhy had originally been from Wisconsin, but had moved to San Francisco in 1968. They had released two albums on MGM. Howard Wales had been in the group for their 1969 debut album, but he had left by their 1970 album Ramblin' On. Probably by this time Dennis Geyer and Curley Cooke were playing guitars, with Geyer the main singer, and presumably Rick Jaeger on drums and Jim Marcotte on bass. They wouldn't stay together much longer.

Schon may have featured San Mateo teenage guitar sensation Neal Schon, then about 16 years old. He would join Santana the next year. King Klyde, BADC, Westwind, and Cerith Ungle are unknown to me.  

October 30, 1970 Old Family Dog On The Great Highway, San Francisco, CA: Aum/Tower Of Power/Naked Lunch/Joe Riccio (Thursday)
Aum was a power trio fronted by guitarist Wayne Ceballos who had released two albums. Tower Of Power were the legendary soul band from Oakland. They had just released their debut East Bay Grease. Both AUM and Tower were managed by the Bill Graham organization, and both had albums on Graham's Fillmore Records label, distributed by Warner Brothers.

Naked Lunch was a local band that featured guitarist Abel Zarate, who later ended up in the band Malo, along with keyboard player Lu Stephens, who had been in a 60s band called All Men Joy. Joe Riccio is unknown to me. [updated via JGMF 20241116].

October 25, 1970 Sunday SF Examiner

October 31, 1970 660 Great Highway, San Francisco, CA: Womb/Joe Riccio/Ice/Osceola (Friday) Transformation Witches Night  
San Francisco loves Halloween. This 1970 event was more directed at young adults rather than kids, so the address was used as the name of the venue. It seems to have mainly been a dance and costume party, and none of the bands were notable. Osceola, a band of Florida transplants led by guitarist Bill Ande, had played the Family Dog on the Great Highway many times. Womb (formerly Birth, who had released a 1969 album on Dot Records), were from San Jose. Ice was a young Marin band associated with the West-Pole, the management for Quicksilver Messenger Service. 

November 6-7, 1970 Poor Richard's, San Francisco, CA: Naked Lunch/Scamp/Dead Run/Grim Tales (Friday-Saturday)
For unknown reasons, the new name of the venue was now Poor Richard's. Scamp, Dead Run and Grim Tales are unknown to me (when I haven't heard of San Francisco bands from this era, they are definitely obscure). I have to assume that this event was mainly a sort of weekend dance for Playland patrons and local teenagers, rather than an attempt to draw anyone from farther away. 

November 20-21, 1970 Old Family Dog Ballroom, San Francisco, CA: Foxglove (Friday-Saturday)
The name reverted briefly to "Old Family Dog." Foxglove is unknown to me. [updated via JGMF 2024116]

November 27, 1970 Old Family Dog Ballroom, San Francisco, CA: Foxglove/Loose Gravel/Aliens/Cosmic Popcorn (Friday)
Loose Gravel featured guitarist Mike Wilhem, who had been The Charlatans. The Aliens were a sort of Latin-rock band from the Mission District, with some connection to Carlos Santana. Cosmic Popcorn is unknown to me. [updated via JGMF 2024116]

November 29, 1970 Poor Richard's, San Francisco, CA: Ship Of The Sun/Garfat/others (Sunday)
I assume different promoters were using different names for the venues. I recognize Ship Of The Sun from various listings, but I don't know anything else about them. Garfat is unknown to me. [updated via JGMF 2024116]

December 7-8, 1970 Poor Richard's, San Francisco, CA: Dan Hicks And The Hot Licks/Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen/Jeffrey Cain/Joe Riccio and Full Sack Jack/Snow (Monday-Tuesday)
Dan Hicks and His Hot Licks, who played their unique style of acoustic, snarky swing, had deep roots in the San Francisco scene. Hicks had been the drummer in The Charlatans. Back in 1965, the Charlatans were San Francisco's first psychedelic rock band. Their new Blue Thumb Records album Where's The Money would be released in 1971. Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen were also Western Swing, but in an electric honky tonk manner. They had moved to Berkeley from Ann Arbor Michigan in mid-69, but were still a year shy of making their classic debut album. Jeffrey Cain was a songwriter who worked with the Youngbloods. Snow is unknown to me. [updated via JGMF 2024116]

December 11, 1970 Old Family Dog Ballroom, San Francisco, CA: Flamin' Groovies/Loose Gravel/Cosmic Popcorn (Friday)
December 12, 1970 Old Family Dog Ballroom, San Francisco, CA: Flamin' Groovies/Loose Gravel/Foxglove (Saturday)
The Flamin' Groovies had been around the San Francisco scene since 1965, but their adherence to a "British Invasion" style left them on the outs in the jam-oriented Fillmore scene. By this time, the Flamin' Groovies had released three albums. Their most recent had been Flamingo, on Kama Sutra. The Groovies regularly promoted their own events, and I assume they were self-promoting here. 

December 26-27, 1970 Poor Richard's, San Francisco, CA: Rumi & Sylvester (Friday-Saturday)
Rumi & Sylvester are unknown to me. I suppose Sylvester could be the popular soul singer, a former Cockette, but I think this is too early for it to be him.  [updated via JGMF 19701116]

 

December 30, 1970 Poor Richard's, San Francisco, CA: Soul Sacrifice/Intruders/others (Wednesday) Benefit For Philippine Flood
One theme of this era was that since there were few concerts booked at 660 Great Highway, it was regularly available for benefit concerts. There had been substantial floods in the Phillipines in early September. There was a huge Filipino and Filipino-American community in San Francisco, with their own popular dance circuit for young Filipino adults and older teens. I don't know anything about Soul Sacrifice or The Intruders, but they were likely part of that scene.

January 9, 1971 Poor Richard's, San Francisco, CA: Country Weather/Fellin'/Liquid Heart/Wells/Wizard (Saturday) Natural Arts Festival
On Saturday, January 9, Poor Richard's hosted the "Natural Arts Festival," whatever that was. The listing in the SF Examiner says "Yoga demonstrations and visuals," so probably the Festival focused on homeopathic remedies and various kinds of holistic approaches to health.

The headline band was Country Weather, from Contra Costa County. Country Weather featured guitarist Greg Douglass, later in the Steve Miller Band (he would co-write the hit "Jungle Love"). Country Weather had been together since 1968, and had opened at the Fillmore West many times. They were widely regarded by locals at the time as an excellent band, but never released an album in the 20th century. 

Fellin', Liquid Heart, Wells and Wizard are unknown to me. 

On Tuesday, January 19, a traveling Native American ensemble called the White Roots Of Peace was scheduled to appear at Poor Richard's. It's not clear if they actually performed (whoever they may have been).  During the week of January 20, Poor Richard's was used as a sort of "Bird Hospital." Standard Oil had caused a giant oil spill just off of San Francisco, and numerous sea birds were covered with oil. Thanks to volunteers, the birds were rescued and cared for. Poor Richard's was the base of operations. 

January 29-30, 1971 Poor Richard's, San Francisco, CA: Helix/Barley At The Hops/others (Friday-Saturday)
Helix and Barley At The Hops are unknown to me. I suspect these shows were superseded by the bird rescue. [updated via JGMF 20241116]

SF Examiner March 4, 1971

On March 4, 1971 the Examiner article headlined "New Life For The Family Dog" described the plans of the new promoters at 660 Great Highway. For one thing, they would re-name the venue Friends And Relations Hall, a name that would generally stick for the remaining 18 months of the venue.

The latter day Family Dog headquarters and ballroom at 660 Great Highway will reopen on March 12 with a new paint job, new owners and a new name.

"Friends and Relations Hall" is the new name for the big oceanfront building that was once the "Edgewater" featuring big dance bands, and in recent months has tried to operate as "Poor Richard's."

 The new proprietors, who have a year's lease, include Jim Gravanes, Vince Nunno, Steve Bowen and attorney-musician Jerry Weiner.

"We have cleaned up the place a good deal" commented Gravanes yesterday, "and we have already let out various concessions, some of which will operate during the weekdays as well as in our weekend evening musical events."

First show for Friends And Relations Hall will feature Big Brother and The Holding Company, Clover and Foxglove. One of the Bay Area's veteran light show artists, Bob Holt, will be in charge of visuals.

Plans for F&R Hall include a greatly expanded restaurant facility, a new bandstand and dressing room arrangement, giant cushions for more comfortable floor seating, and a number of special activities which will run during the week.

Headlining the second weekend, March 19-20, will be Berkeley's Joy Of Cooking group.
All weekend shows will begin at 9 o'clock on Friday and Saturday nights, with a $2.50 door charge. 

The team's plan seems to have been pretty sensible. The ongoing restaurant could provide daily revenue, and the low ticket price meant that the venue was not competing directly with high profile shows at Winterland or elsewhere, but trying to be a sort of neighborhood rock venue. This wasn't a bad idea, actually, but the problem was that the 1971 Ocean Beach rock audience wasn't even of drinking age yet, and without a bar, the venue wouldn't get enough traction. In March, however, that was still yet to come.

March 7, 1971 SF  Examiner

March 12-13, 1971 Friends And Relations Hall, San Francisco, CA: Big Brother and The Holding/Clover/Foxglove (Friday-Saturday)
Big Brother and The Holding Company was a legendary San Francisco rock band, of course, but without Janis Joplin they were kind of just another band. After breaking up at the end of 1968, Big Brother had reformed in late 1969. The original quartet (Peter Albin, James Gurley, Sam Andrews and David Getz) were joined by guitarist David Schallock. Also onboard, at least in the Bay Area, was producer Nick Gravenites, who sang some songs with them. Gravenites had produced their 1970 album Be A Brother, a highly underrated record that had hardly been noticed. With Big Brother and a light show, Friends And Relations Hall was definitely marking itself as a hippie joint in the tradition of the Fillmore.

Clover's Forty-Niner album, their second album on Fantasy, released in 1970

Clover was a Marin band. The quartet had released two albums on Fantasy. They were led by guitarist John McFee and singer Alex Call. Shortly afterwards, Clover would be joined by singer Hugh Cregg and keyboard player Sean Hopper. Clover made it to about 1977, when they finally broke up. McFee went to the Doobie Brothers, Call wrote some hits and Cregg and Hopper founded Huey Lewis and The News.

Although the Examiner article mentioned a planned booking for Berkeley's Joy Of Cooking on March 19 and 20, there was no listing for such a concert, and I don't think it happened. Country Weather, Foxglove and "Harland (magician and fire-eater)" were booked to open. 

April 2-3, 1971 Friends And Relations Hall, San Francisco, CA: Aum/Loading Zone/Flamin' Groovies (Friday-Saturday)
Loading Zone had been the first band to start playing psychedelic soul in San Francisco ballrooms, danceable music with feedback-drenched guitar solos. Their popularity kicked open the door that was walked through by Sly and Tower Of Power. Loading Zone soldiered on until 1972. [updated via JGMF 2024116]

April 9-10, 1971 Friends And Relations Hall, San Francisco, CA: Big Brother and The Holding Company/Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen/Mike Finnegan (Friday-Saturday)
Big Brother returned to Friends And Relations Hall a month later. Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen had relocated to Berkeley from Ann Arbor, MI in the Summer of 1969. In the mean time, they had become a popular local band, as their swinging hippie honky tonk was right on time for the upcoming rise of country rock. Cody and his Airmen were still several months away from their epic debut album Lost In The Ozone on ABC-Paramount Records.

Mike Finnegan was an organist from Topeka, KS, and a great singer. He had moved to Marin to join the the Jerry Hahn Brotherhood. Guitarist Hahn (also from Kansas) had played jazz with John Handy and Gary Burton in the 60s, but the Brotherhood was a jazz-rock outfit. After an interesting 1970 album on Columbia that didn't go anywhere, they had broken up. At this time, Finnegan led a Sunday night jam session at the Lion's Share in San Anselmo, and played around local clubs. At times, he also played with Big Brother, and he likely sat in with them this weekend.

 

April 11, 1971 Friends And Relations Hall, San Francisco, CA: "Turn On With Tullah" (Sunday)
Tullah Hanley was a 48-year old former belly dancer. Now a widow, she had married rich and had apparently given a $3 million gift of art to San Francisco's De Young Museum. This Sunday night event appears to have been some sort of celebration organized by Tullah herself. Your guess is as good as mine.

April 18, 1971 Friends And Relations Hall, San Francisco, CA Fox/Cosmic Popcorn/Liquid Heart/Malo/ Jim Eave’s Acoustic Quintet/Pennsylvania Pokers (Sunday) noon-8pm
For all the fanfare of the new owners, I don't know why the only events were not on weekends. If there had been notable bands playing on the weekends, they would most likely have been listed in the local papers. Of the several bands playing, most had already played 660 Great Highway. In the case of Malo, they were a new group, but they were formed from a group called the Malibus with the addition of guitarists Abel Zarate (who had been in Naked Lunch) and Jorge Santana (Carlos' younger brother, who had been in the Sounds Unlimited Blues Band).

Fox (not Foxglove), Jim Eave's Acoustic Quintet and the Pennsylvania Pokers are unknown to me. 

April 19, 1971 Friends And Relations Hall, San Francisco, CA: Big Brother and the Holding Company/Dan Hicks and His Hot Licks/Gold (Monday) Benefit for Reality House West
Big Brother returned yet again, this time at a Benefit for the Reality House West drug rehab program (Reality House West had been open since 1968, and was located at 1360 Fillmore Street).

Gold was a Berkeley group associated with Country Joe McDonald, since manager Ron Cabral was an old Navy pal of Joe's. 

April 24, 1971 Friends And Relations Hall, San Francisco, CA: Barry Melton And the Fish/Shades of Joy/Cat Mother And The All Night Newsboys (Saturday) Celebration of the People’s Peace Treaty
I do not know if this "celebration" was a Benefit, or just an occasion.

Country Joe and The Fish had disintegrated in mid-1970. When Barry Melton was billed as "Barry Melton and The Fish" it was an indication that he would be playing with an electric band. His current album was Bright Sun Is Shining, a mostly bluesy album that had been released in 1970 on Vanguard. 

Shades Of Joy had been around since 1969. Today they would be called a "Jam Band," but no such term existed for bands that improvised a lot without playing straight jazz. The key members were guitarist Jackie King, saxophonist Martin Fierro and organist Jymm Young. They had released an album on Fontana Records in 1969.

Cat Mother and The All-Night Newsboys had formed in 1967. By 1969, they had been signed by Michael Jeffery, the manager of Jimi Hendrix. Hendrix had even produced the band's debut album on Polydor, The Street Giveth and The Street Taketh Away. Thanks to the Jeffery connection, Cat Mother got to open for Hendrix and a number of other high profile events. Cat Mother even had a minor hit in late '69, with medley of oldies called "Old Time Rock And Roll." In fact, the band's sound was more country-folk oriented, but they were versatile musicians. By 1970, however, Cat Mother was anxious to separate themselves from Jeffery's questionable management practices. Their second album, Albion Doo-Wah, would be recorded at Pacific High Recorders in San Francisco.

After they finished their second album, Cat Mother relocated to San Francisco. San Francisco had a unique status for rock bands in the late 1960s and '70s. While the record industry was centered, as it always had been, in Manhattan and Hollywood, San Francisco was an enticing opportunity for rock groups. For one thing, the concert industry was thriving, so a good band could make a living whether they had an album or not. Plus, there were studios and plenty of A&R guys, so SF wasn't the wilderness. And, it was California--no snow, pretty girls, open minds--so it wasn't hard to persuade fellow band members to make the move. A large number of bands from elsewhere moved to San Francisco.

 

The three founding members of the band, Roy Michaels (bass, vocals), Bob Smith (keyboards, vocals) and Michael Equine (drums), would all relocate permanently to California. Michaels, Smith and Equine would move to Mendocino County and continue on as Cat Mother until 1977.

 

April 25, 1971 Friends And Relations Hall, San Francisco, CA: Shades Of Joy/South Bay Experimental Flash/Foxglove/Cosmic Popcorn/Tovarish (Sunday)
South Bay Experimental Flash were a jazz-rock band originally from San Jose, featuring David Ladd Andersen on flute and saxophone. Tovarish is unknown to me.  [update via JGMF 20241116]

 

May 1, 1971 Friends And Relations Hall, San Francisco, CA: Foxglove/Fox/Railway (Saturday)
May 2, 1971 Friends and Relations Hall, San Francisco, CA: six rock bands (Sunday)
May 3, 1971 Friends and Relations Hall, San Francisco, CA: Blue Monday (Monday)
Railway is unknown to me. Whatever the plans of the new proprietors of Friends And Relations Hall, whether these bands were good or not, they weren't going to draw crowds. [update via JGMF 20214116]

May 4, 1971 Friends And Relations Hall, San Francisco, CA: Cat Mother And The All Night Newsboys/Cookin' Mama/Fox/Elixir (Tuesday)
Cat Mother returned to headline, but on a Tuesday night. Elixir is unknown to me.

Cookin' Mama was a high powered Marin band featuring guitarist Pat Thrall and singer Sherry Fox. Thrall would later become better known in groups like Automatic Man and the Pat Travers Band. Fox, oddly, is best known for earlier vocal harmony group RJ Fox. Cookin' Mama's 1972 album was recorded in Marin (at The Church in San Anselmo) and more-or-less self-released on Rock Bottom Records.

May 10, 1971 Friends And Relations Hall, San Francisco, CA: Mark-Almond/Stoneground/Chico David Blues Band/Terry Dolan/Earthrise (Monday)
Mark-Almond was a terrific jazz-rock band led by two members of John Mayall's 1969 Turning Point ensemble. Jon Mark played acoustic guitar and sang, and Johnny Almond played tenor sax and flute. They recorded for Blue Thumb and had a unique sound.

Terry Dolan was a local singer/songwriter. He would go on to work with John Cipollina and others in the group Terry And The Pirates. Chico David Blues Band and Earthrise are unknown to me [updated via DKS 2024117]

May 17, 1971 Friends And Relations Hall, San Francisco, CA: Flamin' Groovies/Sopwith Camel/Foxglove (Monday)
It's not clear to me why there was a Monday night show, and yet no weekend events. Maybe the Groovies had a better gig on the weekend. Sopwith Camel had been an original Fillmore band from 1966, and the first to score a hit, with "Hello Hello" on Kama Sutra in 1967. They soon broke up. By 1971, they had reformed, with most of the original members, and would even release an album.

May 22, 1971 Friends And Relations Hall, San Francisco, CA: Flamin' Groovies/Sopwith Camel/Flying Circus (Saturday)
For a Saturday night show, Mill Valley's Flying Circus joined the Flamin' Groovies and Sopwith Camel. Flying Circus was led by guitarist Bob McFee, brother of Clover's John McFee. Clover and Flying Circus shared a rehearsal hall. 

May 28-29, 1971 Friends And Relations Hall, San Francisco, CA: Youngbloods/Jeffrey Cain/Grootna Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen (Friday-Saturday) A Benefit for The Committe for the Traditional Indian and the Soledad Prisoners Defense Fund
The Youngbloods were the most prominent band to ever play Friends And Relations Hall. The Youngbloods had unexpectedly hit it big in 1969 with re-release of their 1967 version of "Get Together." The Youngbloods shrewdly parlayed the hit into a new contract that included their own Imprint (custom label) on Warners. Raccoon Records not only released Youngbloods albums, but solo albums and records by their musical friends. The Youngbloods current album was probably Good And Dusty (I'm not certain when in 1971 it was released). The band was now a quartet, with Jesse Colin Young on guitar and vocals, Joe Bauer on drums, Michael Kane on bass and Lowell "Banana" Levenger on piano, steel guitar and various other instruments.

Jeffrey Cain was a solo artist on Raccoon. Grootna was a Berkeley band with an album on Columbia, fronted by guitarist Vic Smith and singer Anna Rizzo, both previously in the band Sky Blue. The Columbia album was produced by Airplane singer Marty Balin, who would later team with Smith to form Bodacious.

May 30, 1971 Friends And Relations Hall, San Francisco, CA: Music Of Devotion with Yogi Bhajwan and The Sufi Choir (Sunday)
The Sufi Choir was a dance and music troupe inspired by Islamic mysticism, and based in Marin. 

May 31, 1971 Friends And Relations Hall, San Francisco, CA: Victoria (Monday)
Victoria (Domagalski) was a singer-songwriter who had put out two solo albums on Bill Graham's San Francisco Records label (distributed by Atlantic). [update via JGMF 20241116]

June 3, 1971 Friends And Relations Hall, San Francisco, CA: Country Joe McDonald/New Riders of The Purple Sage/Grootna/Stoneground (Thursday) Benefit for The Bear Tribe Commune
It was not a good sign that most of the bookings at Friends And Relations Hall were billed as "Benefit" concerts, and held on weeknights. Now, from the Hall's point of view, they were likely paid the same amount for hall rental for a benefit than for a regular show, but benefits weren't premier events. 

Country Joe McDonald had split with Barry Melton in Summer 1970, and had since toured as a solo act. He was still a fairly big name in the Bay Area, however. His most recent album was Hold On, It's Coming, released by Vanguard in April, 1971.

The New Riders Of The Purple Sage had played the Family Dog on The Great Highway, as had the Grateful Dead, so Jerry Garcia surely liked the room. At this time, the Riders were producing their Columbia debut (NRPS), with Garcia still a member of the band on pedal steel guitar. The New Riders, of course, had to fit their touring schedule around the Grateful Dead, and plans were afoot to replace Garcia with Buddy Cage (which had been Jerry's recommendation). 

Stoneground had been put together by KSAN impresario Tom Donahue for a movie called Medicine Ball Caravan. The band had been signed to Warners and had released their debut earlier in 1971. The group had five lead singers, including Sal Valentino (ex-Beau Brummels) and guitarist Tim Barnes. 

June 5, 1971 Friends And Relations Hall, San Francisco, CA: Victoria/Chris Williamson/Kendall Kardt/Roland Brothers (Saturday)
Popular rock music was changing, and the new breed of singer-songwriters, often just accompanying themselves on a guitar or piano, did not benefit from being third on the bill to some noisy rock band at a giant arena. The newly opened Boarding House focused on these kinds of performers, and some astute managers organized bookings that featured a number of these artists playing together.

Victoria (Victoria Domagalski) was a singer-songwriter, part of Bill Graham's managment stable. Her debut album, Secret Of The Bloom, had been released on Graham's San Francisco Records label (distributed by Atlantic) in late 1970

Chris Williamson (b. 1947, today known as Cris Williamson) was from Deadwood, SD, of all places.  She had released three obscure solo albums on Avanti Records in 1964-65. By 1971, she had resurfaced in the Bay Area. Williamson had released an album on Ampex in 1971. It had been recorded in New York (with Eddie Kramer, at Electric Lady Studios) and in San Francisco (at Wally Heider's, with Jim Gaines). An army of session men, some well-known, were on the record. It went nowhere. Still, Williamson had just headlined a week of shows (in May) at San Francisco's Boarding House, a newly-opened "acoustic music salon," so it seems she was starting to develop a following.

In future years, Williamson would assert that there should be a record label run by women, for women, and that would lead to Olivia Records. Olivia released Williamson's 1975 album The Changer And The Changed. Besides being a fine album, Olivia was in the forerfront of DIY releases, fitting in nicely with Beserkely Records and numerous punk labels. The message was, if you want albums of a certain type, release 'em yourself.

Kendall Kardt (b. 1943) was an example of a different type of arc, an electric performer gone solo. Kardt had been in the group Rig, who had been booked by the Bill Graham organization. Rig had played the Fillmore East, and opened for a variety of National acts.  Rig released an album on Capitol in 1970. The band broke up, however, and Kardt moved to the Bay Area to be nearer to the Graham team. Kardt recorded a solo album for Capitol, with help from the likes of Jerry Garcia, Ronnie Montrose, Pamela Polland and Spencer Dryden, but the album was shelved. He would record an album for Columbia in 1972, but it too was shelved. Kardt, too, had headlined a week in May at the Boarding House.

Ultimately, Kardt would move to Chicago. He continued his career as a songwriter, and his songs were recorded by Montrose, Jim Post and others. 

June 12, 1971 Friends And Relations Hall, San Francisco, CA: Stoneground/Sopwith Camel/Congress Of Wonders/Beefy Red/others (Saturday)
Congress Of Wonders were a hip comedy duo from Berkeley that had released an album on Fantasy Records. Beefy Red was a 10-piece jazz-rock band from Marin County. It had some good players, like guitarist Barry Finnerty, trumpeter Mark Isham and drummer Jim Preston.  [update via JGMF 202411116]

June 21, 1971 Friends And Relations Hall, San Francisco, CA: "The City That Waits To Die" (Monday)
I have no idea what this event might have been. [update via JGMF 202411116]

June 24, 1971 Friends And Relations Hall, San Francisco, CA: Feelin'/Driver/Soquel/Peter Cosmos (Thursday)
All of these bands are obscure to me.  [update via JGMF 20241116]

June 25-26, 1971 Friends And Relations Hall, San Francisco, CA: Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen/Charlie Musselwhite/Sonoma Mountain Band (Friday-Saturday)
Cody and the Airmen returned to Friends And Relations as headliners.

Charlie Musselwhite was a blues harmonica player from Memphis, by way of Chicago. He had moved out to the Bay Area in 1967 and had been a regular performer at nightclubs and ballrooms since then. Musselwhite had recorded a number of albums, but blues wasn't as appealing to record companies as it had been in the 60s. Locally based Arhoolie Records would release Takin' My Time some time in 1971, and Musselwhite's band featured the young Ukiah guitarist Robben Ford. Ford was the anchor of Musselwhite's band for some time, and may have still been in the group at this point. 

The Sonoma Mountain Band is unknown to me.

June 27, 1971 Friends And Relations Hall, San Francisco, CA: "Yogi For Joy" Sufi Bajwan/Allen Ginsberg/Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach (Sunday)
Allen Ginsberg was the legendary beat poet, and Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach was a folk-singing rabbi. In general, this would have been seen as a sort of "personal enlightenment" evening.  

June 28, 1971 Friends And Relations Hall, San Francisco, CA: Hot Tuna/Stoneground/Ace Of Cups (Monday) Benefit For Native American Church
Once again, popular local acts were using Friends And Relations Hall for a weeknight benefit. This was a sign that musicians liked the room, but it wasn't attractive for a weekend headline gig. I have no idea who or what the Native American Church might have been.

Jorma Kaukonen and Jack Casady had been playing separately from Jefferson Airplane since 1968, but had only started using the name "Hot Tuna" in early 1970. Their second RCA album, First Pull Up Then Pull Down, had just been released in June '71. Tuna had their first East Coast tour coming up--the first of many--and playing this benefit was probably a good tune-up. In their electric configuration, Jack and Jorma were joined by Papa John Creach on electric violin and Sammy Piazza on drums. At a Bay Area show, they might have been joined by a guest or two as well [note: some Hot Tuna lists show a May 1 '71 Friends And Relations date, but I think it is spurious].

Ace Of Cups were already somewhat notable, if not exactly infamous, for being the only "all-girl" band on the Fillmore scene. They wrote their own material, and there was some record company interest. They were managed by Quicksilver manager Ron Polte, but he was never able to find a deal that worked (ultimately, an album of live material and demos was released in 2003). By 1971, Ace Of Cups was only performing intermittently, and they sometimes even had men in the band, usually a husband.

Whatever the grand plans of the quartet who took over the Friends And Relations lease in March of 1971, the venue hadn't really worked out as a concert venue. Most of the shows in the preceding months had been on off-nights, or featured bands that were third-on-the-bill at Fillmore West. I do not know if the same investors continued to support Friends And Relations, but from this point onward the venue mostly put on theatrical productions, with the occasional concert. I don't actually think Friends And Relations was any more successful as a Theater. The distant location of Playland wasn't solved by putting on musicals. 

July 7-25, 1971 Friends And Relations Hall, San Francisco, CA: "Emergence" (Tuesday-Sundays)
"The Emergence" was a "psychedelic tapestry" performed by the Los Angeles Repertory Troupe Company Theatre, presented by Mel Goldblatt. I am refraining from doing any research on the musicals, as it is outside of the scope of even my rather sprawling blogs. 

There does seem to have been a poster, I don't know how widely it circulated.  

July 26, 1971 Friends And Relations Hall, San Francisco, CA: Cat Mother/Mike Finnegan/Running Easy/Fire And Ice (Monday)
Running Easy and Fire And Ice are unknown to me. [update via JGMF 20241116]

SF Examiner August 3, 1971

August 1-September 1, 1971 Friends And Relations Hall, San Francisco, CA: "Tommy" The Musical (Tuesdays-Saturdays)
After "Emergence," Friends And Relations booked a version of The Who's "Tommy" rock opera. I believe this had been San Francisco college production (at Lone Mountain College), that was successful enough to move.  This event may have started as early as July 29, and was called "The Electric Simulsence Theater."

September 3-5, 1971 Friends And Relations Hall, San Francisco, CA: Sun Ra and his Planet Earth Solar Infinity Arkestra/South Africa's Ndiko Xaba and the Natives/Ghana's Kwazi Badu and Revue (Friday-Sunday)
David Kramer-Smyth found this listing in the Examiner. Anything with Sun Ra was unforgettable. [updated via DKS 2024117]

September 10-12, 1971 Friends And Relations Hall, San Francisco, CA: Youngbloods/Jeffrey Cain/High Country (Friday-Sunday)
The Youngbloods returned to headline a weekend at Friends And Relations. The "Tommy" production seems to have been on hiatus. It's worth noting that Fillmore West was closed by this time, so there wasn't a mid-size venue for bands like The Youngbloods. Label mate Jeffrey Cain was listed in the Examiner as having a "new three-man group," so he would have had more of a rock sound.

High Country, who also had an album on Raccoon, were led by Berkeley mandolinist Butch Waller. Waller went way back to the early 60s in the Berkeley bluegrass scene, and was old pals with the likes of David Nelson and Jerry Garcia.

September 17-18, 1971 Friends And Relations Hall, San Francisco CA: Stoneground/New Riders of The Purple Sage (Friday-Saturday)
The New Riders of The Purple Sage and Stoneground co-hosted on this weekend. It would be interesting to know who financed this concert, and who came on last. The New Riders debut album (NRPS) would have just been released on Columbia. Pianist Cory Lerios had probably just joined Stoneground, replacing Englishman Pete Sears.

There is a poster for this show, albeit not a particularly exceptional one, perhaps the only stand-alone poster for a Friends And Relations concert. Events involving the Grateful Dead often had their own posters, even though Jerry Garcia's name appears nowhere on it (no doubt at Jerry's insistence). The poster has no information about who is promoting the concert, which itself is peculiar.

The cover of Jefferson Airplane's 1971 lp Bark, on their own Grunt Record label (the imprint was distributed by RCA)

September 25, 1971 Friends And Relations Hall, San Francisco, CA: Jefferson Airplane/Black Kangaroo/One/Ace Of Cups/Jack Bonus/Grootna (Saturday) Grunt Records Party
Jefferson Airplane had been the first really big rock band to come out of the San Francisco scene. Since their initial breakout, other local bands like Sly And The Family Stone, Creedence Clearwater Revival and Santana had come along, selling more records and having a wider cultural reach. Nonetheless, the Airplane had special status by virtue of being first. In 1971, RCA Records had renewed the Airplane's record deal by giving the band its own label. In record company lingo, Grunt Records was an "Imprint," financed, manufactured and distributed by RCA, but with creative decisions made by the Airplane members. Of course, the band immediately signed all their friends, some of who were talented and some not so much.

On September 7, 1971, Grunt Records had its first release. Bark was the new Jefferson Airplane album. It wasn't that good an album, in fact, but the Airplane were local heroes. A few weeks later, the Airplane decided to have a party to celebrate, and invited 1000 friends or so to Friends And Relations Hall.  The Examiner's Phil Elwood reported on the huge party that the Airplane had to celebrate their new album and their new label. Jefferson Airplane headlined the show, but came on very late and were not in terrific performing shape (ahem).  

Opening the show were a few bands who would release albums on Grunt. Black Kangaroo featured guitarist Peter Kaukonen, Jorma's brother. Grootna was associated with Marty Balin, who had left the band but was still part of the record company. Ace Of Cups were a long-standing San Francisco band, friends with the Airplane, who unfortunately never got to record anything for Grunt. "One" featured a Bolinas neighbor of Paul Kantner's, who used the stage name of Reality D. Blipcrotch. I have no reports on his (or their) performance. "One" did release an album on Grunt.

September 28-November 7, 1971 Friends And Relations Hall, San Francisco, CA: "Tommy" The Musical (Tuesday-Saturdays)
"Tommy" returned, suggesting that it was the only theatrical production that succeeded at Friends And Relations.

October 24, 1971 Friends And Relations Hall, San Francisco, CA: Earl Scruggs Family Revue/Doctor Music/Catharsis (Sunday)
Since Tommy wasn't playing on Sunday, bluegrass legend Earl Scruggs could slip in a tour date. [update via DKS 20241117]

November 26, 1971 Friends And Relations Hall, San Francisco, CA: Country Joe McDonald/Gold/Ice/Homespun (Friday)
This stray concert was probably produced by Country Joe's management. Joe was still a solo act, so this was probably a low-risk proposition. Gold was associated with Joe McDonald, too. Homespun is unknown to me.

December 11-12, 1971 Friends And Relations Hall, San Francisco, CA: KPFA Crafts Fair (Saturday-Sunday)
Some bands may have played at this daytime fair.  Clearly Friends And Relations was just a hall for rent at this point. 

December 23, 1971 Friends And Relations Hall, San Francisco, CA: Yogi Phlegm/Copperhead with John Cipollina/Selah with Walter Hawkins/Nick Gravenites/Terry Dolan/Merl Saunders (Thursday) A Christmas Celebration
Yogi Phlegm was the current name for the Sons of Champlin. It never caught on. John Cipollina had left Quicksilver and formed the new group Copperhead with Jim Murray, Jim McPherson and others. They would later sign with Columbia. Walter Hawkins was a local gospel singer. Nick Gravenites had produced most of the people on the bill. Terry Dolan would later work with Cipollina and the Copperhead crowd. Merl Saunders had been around the Bay Area scene for years, but had only recently hooked up with Gravenites, John Kahn and Jerry Garcia, and was playing more rock gigs. [updated via DKS 20241117]

December 31, 1971 Friends And Relations Hall, San Francisco, CA: Quicksilver Messenger Service/Big Brother and The Holding Company/Stoneground/Sopwith Camel (Friday) Quicksilver Presents
Quicksilver Messenger Service, legendary though they were, were no longer at the pinnacle of the San Francisco rock scene. Their second album, Happy Trails, released in March 1969 had received huge FM airplay when the band barely existed and wasn't performing. Quicksilver had returned in 1970, with the classic quartet augmented by Rolling Stones' pianist Nicky Hopkins and singer Dino Valenti. In August '70, they had released Just For Love, which included the popular track "Fresh Air." While Quicksilver could soar live, Valenti's vocals were an acquired taste, and many Quick fans never acquired it.

By the end of 1970, Hopkins and lead guitarist John Cipollina had left the band, leaving it in the hands of Valenti and guitarist Gary Duncan. Quicksilver had a new album in December 1970, What About Me, and the title track got some good FM airplay. But fans saw the band as a Valenti vehicle, and that didn't inspire confidence. Quicksilver began a long, slow decline, even though they would not give up touring until 1977. In November 1971, Quicksilver had released a pretty weak (self-titled) album, and were just a shadow of their former power.

Quicksilver manager Ron Polte was always very entrepreneurial, however, so it's no surprise that Quicksilver put on its own event. Old pals Big Brother were on the bill, but they too were no longer at their apex, with only Sam Andrews carrying the flag.

January 22, 1972 Friends And Relations Hall, San Francisco, CA: Doc Watson (Saturday) Presented by Mel Goldblatt
Guitarist Doc Watson's prominence dated back to the "Folk Revival" days of the early 60s, so his audience was a little older than that of most rock bands. Of course, that basically meant his fans were in their late 20s, rather than a decade younger. Producer Mel Goldblatt--who had used Friends And Relations for the Emergence show (see July 7-25 above)--promoted Doc in San Francisco and Palo Alto. Doc probably drew pretty good crowds at both places. 

The February 6, 1972 Sunday column by the Chronicle's John L Wasserman revealed that the Friends And Relation Hall was now "defunct." It would be replaced by The Friends And Relation Theater. The  significant detail he revealed was that the "venue" was a 900-seat theater. This was implicitly different from the open floor dance hall that it had been.

SF Examiner March 28, 1972

March 22-June 30, 1972 Friends And Relations Theater, San Francisco, CA: "Robin" A Musical (Wednesdays, Fridays-Sundays)
Robin was a "Pop Opera," and a "Multi-Media Musical," produced by one Bob Walter.  It had run at Stanford for five weeks the previous year, and had originated as a student production. Per the Examiner, they had plans to take it to New York.

Via JerryGarciasBrokendownPalaces, a 1972 Tom Gray photo of Friends And Relations Theater from March 1972

From this point on, 660 Great Highway was usually referred to as Friends And Relations Theater. 

May 27, 1972 Friends And Relations Theater, San Francisco, CA: Alan Watts/Malachi  (Saturday)
Given that there was a Saturday event at Friends And Relations, I have to assume "Robin" wasn't a big hit.

Malachi (born John Morgan Newbern, in Baltimore), was a Buddhist guitarist. He had put out the album Holy Music on Verve in 1966. Malachi (1944-2020) lived in Santa Rosa, and had a full life as a musician and luthier.

English-born Alan Watts (1915-73) was a well-known popularizer of Zen teachings, and was well-known from KPFA radio in Berkeley and numerous books. Watts and Malachi had also appeared together at the Family Dog on The Great Highway, on October 18, 1969.

July 26, 1972 Friends And Relations Theater, San Francisco, CA: Osceola (Tuesday) [updated via JGMF 2024116]

July 14-August 5, 1972 Friends And Relations Theater, San Francisco, CA: "Even Adam" (Tuesday-Sunday)
"Even Adam" was a new play by Roger Swearingen, based on the Garden Of Eden myth. 

August 25-27, 1972 Friends And Relations Theater, San Francisco, CA: Wolfgang and Strauss and an electric orchestra (Friday-Sunday)
Your guess is as good as mine. [updated via JGMF 20241116]

SF Examiner Aug 28 1972

September 1-2, 1972 Friends And Relations Ballroom, San Francisco, CA: Stoneground/Sylvester and His Hot Band/Cat Mother (Friday-Saturday) "Farewell To Friends And Relations"
Playland-At-The-Beach closed on Monday, September 4, 1972. It was mourned by some generations of San Franciscans, but everyone admitted that it's time was long past. As part of the farewell, there was some final concerts at Friends And Relations, called a "Ballroom" at the very end.

Sylvester was a rising soul singer, singular because he wore women's clothing on stage. He mostly played gay bars, but he was an excellent mainstream soul singer. He would later go on to some success in the later 70s.

September 9-10, 1972 Friends And Relations Hall, San Francisco, CA: Blue Bear School Of Music Orchestra and Chorus (Saturday-Sunday)
Although Playland had closed after Labor Day, there was one final event at Friends And Relations (this was possible since the entrance was different). The Blue Bear School Of Music would become famous in later years for teaching people to play rock music, long before "School Of Rock" became commonplace. One of the principal instructors in Blue Bears later rock classes was singer Bonnie Hayes. Her younger brother Chris was also a guitar instructor in the later 70s. Chris Hayes would go on to become a genuine rock star himself, as a founding and permanent member of Huey Lewis And The News.

SF Examiner September 10, 1972

By the end of September 1972, all of Playland-At-The_Beach was torn down. The former Edgewater Ballroom, later the Family Dog on The Great Highway, and later Friends And Relations Hall, was torn down with it. Now, it seems like a great idea to have a jam-band palace by the ocean, sponsored by marijuana entrepreneurs. Aging hippies and tech bros would have forked over $100 without thinking to see whoever was still around. But the Edgewater was gone, replaced by apartments, and the dream of electric music at the Edge Of The Western World was just a distant memory.