1972 is generally regarded as year one in the BOC calendar (though, of course, they were touring under this name in 1971).
The year kicked off with the release of their eponymous debut album in January and in April/May BOC struck promotional gold when they got to support Alice Cooper on a number of dates on the "Killer" tour.
A lot of the dates on this page come straight from Bolle Gregmar/Gary Aschliman's 1972 gig lists for boc.com. With most of this site's gig pages, I've been able to use their invaluable research as a starting point and then investigate further. However, with the years 1972-4, this has proven a difficult task.
1972 has been the hardest of all- solid definitive info on gig dates for this year is very hard to come by - even the Alice dates are open to much debate and trying to firm out this schedule is very frustrating, so please chip in if you know anything.
Have you got anything to contribute to this page? Reviews, missing info, ticket stubs, posters etc etc - if so, let me .
The name of the town where the Action House was is Island Park, NY, not Rockville.
Some sources have placed this gig at the Centrum, but, thanks to a helpful email from Marc Miller which pointed out that the Centrum didn't open until 1982, a more likely venue would seem to be the Harrington Auditorium (part of the Worcester Polytechnic Institute).
Stop Press: Check out the stub above which I found on Sick Things - seems like it was the Harrington Auditorium after all!
This show is generally regarded as the opening gig of the run supporting Alice Cooper.
In a Classic Rock Revisited interview, Eric Bloom said this:
"We were signed to a booking agency called ABC. Alice Cooper was their biggest act. Alice Cooper was on a tour and Redbone was opening... there was some sort of problem between their management or between Alice Cooper the band and their band or something... it's still a foggy story. Anyway, our first album wasn't even out yet. Our agent came to us and said, "If you do one show with Alice Cooper and they like you, I'll get you the remainder of the tour."
It was at Worchester, Massachusetts and we went over. Alice Cooper was happy. We were happy, and we got 15 shows with Alice!"
So it looks fair enough to say that this Worcester gig is the first BOC/Alice gig - even if it was an audition of sorts.
I was interested in the mention of 15 gigs - I wonder if Eric meant this as an actual number or a rough approximation? Also, Eric didn't say whether or not Redbone played on any of the gigs BOC opened...
The recording from this gig resulted in the famous "official bootleg" disk, Fantasy Distillation of Reality/Live in Montreal (!!)/Live in New York 1972 etc (it had a number of names). My copy was in a nicely printed glossy black sleeve featuring the famous Bethesda Fountain promo shot...
Here's the History to what the Early Presskits written by Columbia Publicist Arthur Levy, told of this Item.
In 1972/3 as a pre-release to Tyranny & Mutation Columbia issued this 4 Track 12" single/EP called the BOC Bootleg EP. It did contain: Side One: The Red & The Black, and Buck's Boogie. Side Two was: Workshop Of The Telescopes, and Cities On Flame With Rock & Roll.
It was a 4 Track Live recording from a Radio Station (WCMF-FM) broadcast in an edited format a week after the day of the recording 72-04-03, from The Nugget's Pizza Parlour in Rochester, New York.
The Full Broadcast was 36 minutes long and actually didn't include Buck's Boogie as that song lacked Publishing copyrights security at the time of the broadcast.
The Radio Show did have the following setlist though: The Red & The Black, Stairway To The Stars, Transmaniacon MC, The Came the Last Days Of May, Before the Kiss, A Redcap (Strange attempt at a re-arrangement), Workshop Of the telescopes, Cities On Flame With Rock & Roll, and Born To Be Wild.
Backline Power fuse blew just as they started that last song, but the power came back and the band went through the song and then some.....
The Vinyl History of "The Bootleg EP" COLUMBIA AS-40 is as such... the 12" was only released to radio Station as a White label promo EP. Then it was Bootlegged in 1976 by Vicky Vinyl company Idle Mind Productions as IMP-1106 and presented as "In My Mouth Or On The Ground" in a 10" format on Blue Vinyl and Black Vinyl on re-issues.
Two different covers were issued for this release, One artwork the other a Photograph from the Famous Publicity shoot in 1971 at "Needles Park" in New York.
Using that Photo and some great artwork the record was released in Europe as another 12" Vinyl in a deluxe packaging with a special Presskit fold out inner encosure with Lyrics to the first albums and the fantastic promo pic from Secret treaties called "Max Effo:rt" (supposed to be read as a diacritic) and became commonly known as The Soft White Underbelly record, thus creating massive misunderstanding and a popular misconception of what the real SWU was all about...
This all due to the fact that the labels on the Vinyl read Soft White Underbelly... this was issued in 1976. In 1978 TKRWM released "Fantasy Distillation...." which had a rubber stamp with the erroneous info of "Live In Montreal" on the cover sheet. and included a poorly centered SFG single on that 12" vinyl and more people got this rare collectible than ever before....
CD age and French semi-legal label SkyDog re-issued the EP and just called it Live in New York 1972, and actually issued a Vinyl to go along with it and to complete the story of its release. So there you have it...
Save this explanation and use it whenever somebody gives you any shit or whatever about this recording and its various CD or Vinyl releases.
I went to college in Rochester, NY from 1969 - 1973, and while I wasn't at the famous Nugget Pizza Parlor show on Apr 3, 1972, some of my friends were - though I did manage to hear the show sitting in my in the dorm when it was broadcast on the radio a week later...
Anyway, my friends who went to the Nugget came back raving about it and told the rest of us that we had to go see these guys at the Fun House, so we did...
When my friends and I got there, there were maybe 25 or 30 people in the club, not counting band/crew and staff. It was VERY inclimate weather. I remember the band played a set, then jumped down from the stage and shot pool at the club's pool table for awhile (did any of us go over and talk to them? NOOOOO - we were stupid). Then they got back on the stage and did another set for us brave, hearty, 25 or 30 souls.
The official site has these gigs down as a week run from Tuesday 4 April to the Sunday 9th April. However, there's a slight anomaly with this. It's a matter of record that BOC's early promoter Phil King was shot and killed on Thursday April 27th 1972.
I mention this because Joe Bouchard says that when Phil King was "shot to death in a gambling dispute, we were on tour in Rochester NY at the time at a gig he booked when it happened. It was at a club called The Funhouse in Rochester - it was a week long gig with mostly bikers and pool players."
If Joe's right, then that would put the Funhouse stint broadly during the week of 24 April - 30 April.
Could either the Fun House gigs have occurred a couple of weeks later or even might there have been a second week-long residency at the venue, which would correspond with them being there at the time of Phil King's shooting?
One problem with this,however, is that around this week, BOC were playing various dates in support of Alice Cooper so that would seem unlikely.
I don't know for sure what the dates were, but it would make sense that they were right after the Nugget gig, as they were already in town.
I seem to recall that after listening to the show on the radio, my friends who didn't go to that one and I decided we HAVE to see them the next night at the Fun House.
I know they didn't come back to the Fun House after that run, or we would certainly have gone - we understood them and were BIG TIME fans at that point. Plus, it was much more likely for a blizzard in early April than in late.
If that's correct that you heard the Nuggets broadcast on the radio and then decided to go and see them the next night at the Funhouse, that would tend to suggest the actual broadcast was earlier than a "week after" the show (see Bolle's piece above under 3rd April).
The latest the broadcast could have been would be Saturday 8th April, as the residence apparently ended on Sunday the 8th.
And, if that's so, then the broadcast would have taken place whilst BOC were playing their Saturday night Funhouse show - meaning BOC themselves might have missed it!!
Phil King was definitely killed during the Fun House residency. David Ramage was staying at the band house and had to identify him. It was winter. There was snow on the ground but not a lot.
I think the Phil King date must be wrong. Because we were on to tour with Alice on April 27th and it did not happen then.
OK - this is where matters start to get murky... the Alice tour!!
Both sickthingsuk.co.uk and alicecooperechive.com confirm this gig, and both mention Redbone/BOC as being on the bill.
The poster above shows Alice played here on this date. Redbone are also mentioned on the poster. In view of Eric Bloom's contention that BOC replaced Redbone, it remains to be determined if Redbone actually played or not...
BOC.com also mentions that BOC played here on this date.
Ergo: it seems fair to say that this is the second BOC/Alice gig.
I attended the April 14, 1972 concert in Charlottesville, Virginia. Yes indeed, the posters around town promoted Alice Cooper, with Redbone opening. However, on the day of the concert, I heard the rumor that BOC would also be on the bill. I was really into their first album, so this was exciting news.
Redbone definitely did NOT play that night. I can remember BOC taking the stage, followed by an emcee announcing that "This band on stage is not Redbone. Redbone cancelled on us..."
Eventually he introduced BOC, and they just blew a storm! Alice Cooper were fine, but they could have cancelled, too, and I would have been totally satisfied with just BOC.
Actually, I'll mention that I found your site after searching for info on the Columbia AS40 "BOC Bootleg EP." I have a cherished copy of this item, and was just listening to it over the weekend. Per your site, I see that those tracks were recorded just the week before the Charlottesville show that I saw!
Honestly, I can't remember a single track that BOC played that night, which kills me. I'm sure the set list was close to what they played at Rochester a week earlier. Aside from the emcee introducing the band, what I remember is that near the conclusion of their last song, Eric Bloom did his version of the Chuck Berry duck walk: Bloom was near the center of the stage, put his arms over his head, and went "Wooooooooooo" as he somehow propelled himself across the stage to the very edge. Crazy!
BOC have played locally a few times in recent years, but for some odd reason, I don't want to "contaminate" the memory (however vague) I have of seeing them in their prime. Oh, and one more memory: I don't think the girl I took to that concert ever went out with me again; I guess BOC and Alice scared her off!
BOC.com has this gig down as "Raleigh Unc" in Atlanta GA which obviously must be a mistake, so I can only assume that Raleigh is the town and the University of North Carolina is the venue.
This concert was part of what was called "The Day" at NC State University in Raleigh, NC. It took place on the Lower Athletic Field on campus.
It was a free show to students and whoever else could sneek in (which wasn't hard)
Great times - Free music, Free Beer, Free women. A great day was had by all!!!!
While conversing with a friend of 25 years today, the subject of Alice Cooper came up and we discovered we both attended, and sat near each other at one of his concerts in 1972. The event was called On Campus Weekend which took place in early May of 1972 on the campus of North Carolina State University in Raleigh, NC.
This type of all weekend concert was typical at the time for many colleges and universities. I was trying to remember who else was on the bill and all I could recall other than Cooper was Blue Oyster Cult and Tom Rush. I came across a photo I got of Tom Rush just recently.
Rush performed in the afternoon so there was plenty of light for pictures. My cheapo camera was not adequate for pictures of Cooper or BOC since they performed after dark.
I was searching the internet to see if I could find something that might tell me who else played this concert when I found your site and saw some of the information surrounding the N.C. venues was a little confusing. For people from outside the state it is understandable.
The state has one of the nation's best state supported programs for its university system, thus lots of universities called UNC at Asheville,at Chapel Hill, at Charlotte, at Wilmington, etc. The university in Raleigh, where BOC performed, is in the same state system, but simply called North Carolina State University.
Hope this helps.
Well these two posts would appear to be referring to the same show simply because they share the same location and time frame... ish. I notice, though, that JaCeLewis says his gig was early May. It's also odd that Paul doesn't mention the presence of Alice Cooper...
Anyone got any more info?
I want to make some corrections to the 4/15/72 concert in Raleigh, NC. Yes, it was April the 15th but the name given for the event every year at NC State university was All Campus Weekend. I have the Ticket stub to this day. The funny thing about it was that on the ticket it was AC 72 and I thought that was cool because Alice Cooper was playing.
I also have the ticket for AC 73. The first one I believe was in 1970. I was 15 yrs old at the time and what I saw flipped me out. It was Steppenwolf and then Jefferson Airplane. I remember the guys up front near the stage were wearing German military Helmets and those big crosses.
Getting back to 1972, Redbone cancelled and for some reason I want to say the word BloodRock, the band. Either they were there or supposed to be there.
Also, I saw the Byrds but not sure if that was then or the next year with J. Geils and Steve Miller. There is something bothering me about BloodRock and also The Byrds. I will look into it further.
Yes, a of people did get in free by pulling the bottom of the fence up but, it was not free. The cost for a ticket was 5 dollars for a day or the whole weekend.
They stopped the concerts at NC State (All Campus Week-end) because people were building fires all over the place to stay warm during the night because it was April and it gets cold at night here. They were getting out of control and many had to be put out by the fire Department.
Hope that helped you.
Both sickthingsuk.co.uk and alicecooperechive.com confirm this gig, and both mention Spirit/BOC as being on the bill.
I have no other evidence for BOC being there, and BOC.com doesn't mention this show.
Both sickthingsuk.co.uk and alicecooperechive.com confirm this BOC/Alice gig - sickthingsuk.co.uk also mention the existance of a ticket although it's not displayed on the page.
BOC.com mentions this show as having taken place on this date.
Only alicecooperechive.com confirms this BOC/Alice gig and gives this info: "Alice dropped the doll for Dead Babies in the audience and it had to be retrieved by a roadie, as Alice performed the song".
BOC.com mentions mentions BOC played Rochester on this date, but doesn't mention a venue.
Therefore, I don't think it's unreasonable to assume that BOC and Alice were on the same bill...
My friends and I saw every Alice Cooper show, so we were at that one in Rochester, but funnily enough, I have no recollection of BOC opening! My powers of recollection are not the very best, however...
Could you have missed the opening act?
I have no doubt that BOC was at the Rochester Alice Cooper gig since they were touring together - maybe we saw them and maybe something happened and we got there late...?
If anyone could chip in with some definitive info on this one, I'd be grateful...
27 April 1972 is the date generally given for the fatal shooting of Phil King, who was an early promoter for BOC, apparently as the result of some gambling dispute.
Mention of Phil would later turn up in BOC songs "Hot Rails to Hell" and "Deadline".
An interesting anomaly:
Joe Bouchard says that Phil King was "shot to death in a gambling dispute, we were on tour in Rochester NY at the time at a gig he booked when it happened. It was at a club called The Funhouse in Rochester - it was a week long gig with mostly bikers and pool players."
If BOC.com is right about the Funhouse shows being 4-9 April, then it's hard to square the circle with Phil King's death being on April 27th.
Stop Press:
Albert Bouchard has been in touch to throw some doubt over this 27 April date - he says it definitely happened during their Funhouse residency earlier in April and not on the 27th when BOC were touring with Alice.
Incidentally, all over the internet you will see references to Phil King being a former BOC vocalist. I've asked but have received no confirmation that he ever tried out on vocals, even during the time everyone from Richard Meltzer to Sandy Pearlman had a go at the job.
For example, here's what "The Encyclopedia of Dead Rock Stars: Heroin, Handguns, and Ham Sandwiches" (by Jeremy Simmonds) said:
"In their formative years, Blue Oyster Cult (apply umlauts as appropriate) found the position of vocalist the hardest to fill. BOC signed, briefly, to Elektra, the label that had enjoyed enormous success with The Doors over the previous years; it was believed that singer Les Bronstein had a similar presence to that of Jim Morrison. However, Bronstein suddenly quit, leaving the door open for a series of frontmen, of whom the shortest-lived was probably Phil King."
"King was not considered reliable by the other members of the group and had already left by the release of their eponymous debut for CBS (1972) - the vacant slot was taken by the band's manager, Eric Bloom. The wayward King had fallen into a twilight world of drink and gambling, and it was during such a session that he was murdered in New York, shot three times in the back of the head following an argument..."
I have also seen a reference that described him as "Phil King (aka Phil Friedman)"... Was that his real name, I wonder...?
Only alicecooperechive.com confirms this BOC/Alice gig and also mentions that Edgar Winter's White Trash were on the bill.
BOC.com mentions this show as having taken place on this date and it's listed on the Rolling Stone advert.
A tape of this gig appeared on dimeadozen recently - looks like the guy who went there to tape Alice taped BOC as well. Must have had some spare batteries. I salute him/her for their good taste and foresight!!
Anyway, check out the clipping above from the 11 May 1972 issue of Rolling Stone. It was from a full page advert for the first BOC LP, and at the foot of the page it gave the dates as you see them.
As it was dated 11 May, which is right slap bang in the middle of the quoted dates, I tend to give it a fair bit of credence as good contemporaneous dating evidence. Like an archaeologist finding a bit of a dateable pottery at the bottom of a trench they've just dug, I will attempt to cling to this during the next series of so-called Alice dates...
But it's not that easy - as per bleeding usual...
Blue Oyster Cult? Man! They fucking RULED in the early 1970s!
I saw them for the first time at the New Haven Arena at the concert that changed my life forever... Blue Oyster Cult, Edgar Winter and Alice Cooper. Blue Oyster Cult was good, but not great... On the other hand--Alice Cooper changed my life that night! It was the single greatest concert I've ever seen in my life and this concert is why I started PUNK magazine!
Later on, I saw Blue Oyster Cult at the Schaefer Festival in Central Park--when I almost got my head kicked in because I attempted to grab one of their drumsticks--this was the first time I failed to get a souveneir...
Then, in 1977, I saw The Ramones open in Long Island for Blue Oyster Cult at the height of BOC's popularity... "Don't Fear The Reaper" and all that... Man, the Ramones sucked that night. I mean, they put on a good "Ramones" concert but their flaws as an arena act were exposed for all to see. They never did figure out how to be a good opening act, and I think this is part of the reason why they never made it... Well, that's a long story.
Anyhow, seeing BOC that night with their laser lights and all was awesome! But still, I liked them much better at the Schaefer Festival, that concert was impossible to top.
This gig gets a mention on the brown.edu (Brown College) site, and lists the supports as:
I don't remember much about that Brown College bill except our performance.
In those days, folks liked diverse booking with all sorts of acts. I do too. I know I like all those acts.
I'm a huge Bonnie Raitt fan, she sings and plays as well as anyone.
This show was Spring Weekend at Brown Univ. The line-up was as follows:
Friday 4/28/72:
Saturday 4/29/72:
Sunday 4/20/72:
This is from the April 28, 1972 Brown Daily Herald
Neither of the Alice sites mention this show, but BOC.com mentions this show as having taken place on this date.
Check out this blog link by Bob Lefsetz:
At the end, he confirms that BOC shared the bill with Alice Coooper at this show:
"I saw Blue Oyster Cult open that spring for Alice Cooper at Boston's Music Hall. What a double bill! Alice killed.
But the audience... it wasn't familiar with the boys from Long Island. The guitarist was wearing a white suit. Live, they were sans charisma, and the vocals were less than perfect, far from dominant. But that first record, I've never gotten over it."
I have a listing for the Alice Cooper show at the Boston Music Hall on Sunday April 30, 1972 from the Friday April 28, 1972 Boston Globe but there's no mention of Blue Oyster Cult.
BOC.com gives the following details for this date:
3 May 1972: Unc University Of North Carolina, Ashville, North Carolina
They also have this:
9 May 1972: College, Wilson, North Carolina
Now, if you check 9 May below you'll see that Alice played "Warren Wilson College, Asheville NC" on this date.
Putting 2 and 2 together - and making 3.14 - I'm attaching BOC to the 9 May Asheville NC gig.
Stop Press: I had thought that this 9 May Wilson College gig was a non-starter - the date would seem to be definitely out - 9th May is taken by Asheville - but if that's so, then maybe they've been switched - maybe the 3rd of May could be the Wilson College gig?
Jeff Cox has contacted me to let me know that he saw BOC at about this time at the Atlantic Christian College in Wilson, North Carolina - click here for details - so maybe this 3rd May gig - previously thought to be Asheville NC - was in fact Wilson NC?
Hopefully, time will tell...
| Non-BOC Gig: Convention Center Arena, San Antonio TX [ Alice Cooper headlining ] |
OK - thanks to Darrel Goodman's post as well as the following email sent by Greg of The Tour Archive, (see below), I am now certain this gig took place alright, but not with BOC on the bill:
BOC was not on this bill. Alice Cooper, Canned Heat & Bang played at the San Antonio Convention Center Arena on May 5, 1972.
This information is from the May 5, 1972 San Antonio Express newspaper.
Greg [The Tour Archive]
As this is from a newspaper issued on the day of the gig, I think that's pretty good evidence. It's not conclusive, of course, as I have a number of examples of contemporaneous newspaper reports containing inaccurate information, but for now, I'm happy to go with it.
Actually, there's always been a lot of confusion over this date... Initially, I had the "5 May" gig down as Dallas TX supporting Alice because of the above Rolling Stone advert.
However... both sickthingsuk.co.uk and alicecooperechive.com say Alice played "Hemisphere" in San Antonio on this date - see stub above, and both mention BOC as being on the bill.
I'm not sure where "Hemisphere" comes in, as the stub says "Convention Center Arena", although I was a little concerned that the stub wasn't torn, indicating it may not have been used or a possibly cancelled concert, but in the circumstances I was willing at the time to take the stub at face value.
Just to confuse matters even more, BOC.com has BOC in Jacksonville FL on this date!!
As it happens, in the light of Greg's email, maybe BOC did play Jacksonville FL if they didn't play this gig...?
The Fri. May 5, 1972 gig was Alice Cooper + Canned Heat + Bang at the San Antonio Convention Center Arena.
B.O.C. was not there!!!
I took photos at this concert and talked to "Bear" from "Canned Heat" after the concert!
Re your confusion over "Hemisphere" - the "Hemisphere Arena" was built in 1968 for the Worlds Fair here in San Antonio, Texas. After the Worlds Fair it was renamed "Convention Center Arena", but many people still called it "Hemisphere Arena" for years.
OK - well, you guessed it - more confusion!! The advert above says "May 6: Houston"
Again both sickthingsuk.co.uk and alicecooperechive.com have Alice and BOC in Dallas on this date.
However, this gig is down as "Dallas Memorial Auditorium (Dallas, TX) - May 6, 1972" on Don Thompson's excellent LookAtStubs site. Because Don gets his dates from actual stubs on his site, it can reasonably be assumed that this date comes direct from an actual stub and so is more likely than not to be correct.
Again, BOC.com adds to the confusion by placing BOC in Pirates Cove, Miami FL. In the light of it now being likely that BOC didn't play San Antonio the night before, maybe they did play Miami after all...?
Stop Press: See the stub above showing Alice played Dallas Memorial Auditorium on the 6th May. Just goes to show that Rolling Stone Advert was a load of old bollocks so far as the Alice tour was concerned...
Once more - both sickthingsuk.co.uk and alicecooperechive.com disagree with my lovely dating evidence and have Alice and BOC in another Texas town - this time at the Sam Houston Coliseum, Houston TX on this date.
BOC.com at least has BOC in the correct state, this time, only they reckon it was in San Antonio.
Bugger!!
Stop Press: See the stub above showing Alice played Houston Hofheinz Pavillion on the 7th May.
Both sickthingsuk.co.uk and alicecooperechive.com confirm this date as an Alice gig, but neither mention BOC as being on the bill.
Furthermore, the Rolling Stone advert doesn't mention this date either.
However, BOC.com mentions this show as having taken place on this date so that's two independent sources placing the two groups together in this town on this date...
OK - this Alice stub is from sickthingsuk.co.uk - I have no evidence that BOC played the gig, but it's a previously "unknown" Alice Cooper show and, as there's so much bloody confusion over the dates Alice played during this period, it's entirely posible it was with BOC.
Unless you know different, of course!!
| Non-BOC Gig: Civic Coliseum, Knoxville TN (Alice Cooper headlining) |
Now, this is getting confusing. The Rolling Stone advert above says BOC supported Alice in Knoxville Texas on this date. So that's why it originally got included as a date on this page.
And that's how it stayed, until I saw Rick's great ticket stub collection on Facebook, which had a 12 May 1972 stub for Alice supported by Free and Todd Rundgren in Knoxville Tennessee. I asked him for confirmation that BOC weren't on this show.
I'm quite certain there was NO BOC at this Alice show. I was very into BOC by then and would have noted it for sure.
As it was, that was my first nite of Todd Rundgren, and I immediately became a huge Todd fan, now over 50 concerts...
So I am sure no BOC that nite [and I have a newpaper ad from that show -- must scan and post that!!]...
For more Alice stubs - and for that matter, stubs relating to - seemingly - every other major touring band of the period, be sure to check out Rick's great anotated stub collection on FaceBook here:
Both sickthingsuk.co.uk and alicecooperechive.com confirm this date as an Alice gig, although the former doesn't mention any support act whilst the latter reckons Todd Rundgren was on the bill.
Still, there's a used ticket stub showing the date, so that's something at least...
BOC.com is no help again with this one, and so - again - I'm relying on that Rolling Stone advert...
OK - my Rolling Stone advert is starting to get it's arse kicked in the evidence wars as the poster above demonstrates.
Both sickthingsuk.co.uk and alicecooperechive.com confirm this date as an Alice gig but place the gig in Greenville SC! They also make no mention of BOC. Instead, they both say Todd Rundgren was on the bill - although the poster also says Free played too.
I don't know what to make of this - this gig is 3 days after that Rolling Stone issue came out - you'd think they'd have the most up-to-date gig info...
Again - BOC.com doesn't mention this gig...
May 15, 1972: "Arie Crown Theatre", Chicago, IL with SPIRIT (headliner), CHASE (middle), BOC (opener).
At last!! Agreement!!
Both sickthingsuk.co.uk and alicecooperechive.com confirm this gig, and both mention Chambers Brothers/BOC as being on the bill.
Helpfully, BOC.com mentions this show as having taken place on this date.
Hooray!
Now this is nice - more agreement.
Both sickthingsuk.co.uk and alicecooperechive.com confirm this gig, though neither mention BOC as being on the bill.
Not to worry, though, as BOC.com mentions this show as having taken place on this date.
This is how all the gigs should be...
Bollocks!! That agreement mentioned above didn't last long, did it?
My advert says Hampton VA whilst both sickthingsuk.co.uk and alicecooperechive.com confirm this date as an BOC/Alice gig which took place at the Boutwell Auditorium, Birmingham AL.
As for BOC.com, they reckon this show was in Birmingham Al (venue unknown).
It looked like this gig wasn't Hampton, after all and my faith in that Rolling Stone advert had suffered a real battering...
It did spark back into life the other day when I noticed this extract on mattbarrett.net:
"Alice Cooper: 1972. Hampton Roads. Va. If you were going to see Alice cooper then this was the show to see. It was during their Schools Out Tour which was by coincidence the year me and several million other people graduated from highschool. This show had it all, the snake, the gallows and a band that despite their reputation of being a bunch of drunks, was musically flawless. Maybe it's because I was young but this was one of the most amazing shows I have ever seen and it had nothing to do with the props. This was a great band at that moment in time."
So, there was an Alice gig in Hampton VA in 1972 - none of the Alice sites had such a show listed - could this be the mysterious BOC/Alice gig from the advert?
I decided to email Matt to ask if he knew the date of the show, the venue and the support act - was it BOC?? He replied: "BOC did not open the show that I recall. It had to be in July or August of 72. It was at the Hampton Roads Colliseum."
Oh well...
Stop Press: OK - I now have a Birmingham ticket off eBay for this gig so that would appear to be that! One thing - it does say the gig was at the Municipal Auditorium - is this the "Boutwell Auditorium" by another name? Or is that a different venue?
Both sickthingsuk.co.uk and alicecooperechive.com confirm this date as an BOC/Alice gig, and BOC.com also confirms it.
This would appear to be the last gig on the tour, if it indeed took place.
Both sickthingsuk.co.uk and alicecooperechive.com confirm this date as an BOC/Alice gig, and they feature the poster above. However, I don't much like the look of that poster. It sort of looks "wrong" to me - but it's nothing I can put my finger on. And there are a number of fake Alice posters about...
I should mention: BOC.com doesn't mention this gig either.
I wanted to help document the fact that this concert indeed took place.
I acquired the poster in question and an original intact ticket from the Tifton, GA concert. I got the items from the grandson of the late promoter Gus Statiras who also founded Progressive Records and ran a recording studio in Tifton in the 1970's & 1980s. He and his late son Perry promoted other bands and concerts including Dr. Hook in the 70's.
Hope this info helps.
Alan Ross
Offbeat Records
Well, there you go! Eric Bloom mentioned in the 3 March entry that BOC did 15 gigs on top of that Worcester date - making 16 in all.
My current reckoning is - any help you can send to help me get a more accurate idea of what happened on that tour would be gratefully received.
This is the tour I would most have liked to see if you gave me my own time machine (this and the MC5/Stalk Forrest Group at Stony Brook gym - or maybe the SWU/Dead gig at the same venue) - anyway, I love BOC and I loved Alice (especially the Killer period) - and seeing them both on the same bill would have been too fantastic for words, and so that's why I'd especially like to get a handle on these dates. It was an important tour and I'd like to see it documented properly and accurately.
Check out this great list of all the acts who've ever played the Warehouse:
This was the date of Buck Dharma's marriage to Sandy and was marked by Richard Meltzer's interesting take on how to behave at a wedding...
This gig is confirmed by bbhc.com, the official Big Brother site as the first in a short mini-tour with BOC.
Unfortunately, they didn't have any specific dates for these shows but it might have been around 12 June (see below).
Those Big Brother dates were my honeymoon! Right after our wedding on June 10, Sandy and I flew to Chicago to spend our honeymoon playing those shows around Northern IL and IN area. Not much of a getaway!
Big Brother was OK, it was the band minus Janis. The new gal was pretty good, but of course, no Janis. I believe those Big Brother gigs started on the 12th. It was 3 or four, I can't remember...
Small world: The drummer David Getz' then wife Nancy years later managed Sandy Pearlman's recording studio in San Rafael CA, where BOC recorded Harvest Moon, The Horsemen Arrive and Still Burning.
Yes, we played with Big Brother and the Holding Company at some high schools in the suburbs of Chicago. Really small time gigs, we were desperate for any gigs at that time.
No, Janis Joplin. They had another singer who wasn't bad, but no Janis.
By the way - I originally thought there was a possibuility that this Schererville gig might have been at the Illiana Speedway as I'd been told that BOC had played that venue in 1972, and I didn't think it very likely that there could have been two gigs in Schererville in 1972.
However, I am not reasonably certain that the Illiana Speedway was actually on 29 July 1973.
This gig is confirmed by bbhc.com...
This gig is confirmed by bbhc.com...
I saw a gig (not listed on your site) in which Blue Oyster Cult opened for Quicksilver Messenger Service at Constitution Hall, Washington DC.
As for specifics, the 1972 DC show was definately june 72. I was in 11th grade, that year was when I started going to shows. I had just seen Led Zeppelin 6/11/72 in Baltimore, winning tickets from a radio station... I know that the BOC/QMS was within 2 weeks after.
A lot of tickets from that year were printed and torn so that sometimes the date and/or band are gone, so I cannot confirm the exact day of June, just that it was June 1972.
I noticed that BOC.com list a gig at this same venue at about the correct date (24 June), except they say it was 1973!
I was wondering if the year was just a typo and this is the same gig?
Anyway, all I can say for sure is that BOC/QMS definitely happened at Constitution Hall, Washington DC in June 1972!
I dcon't think it could have been the 24th June - see below...
| Non-BOC Gig: Aragon Ballroom, Chicago IL [ Spirit headlining ] |
June 23, 1972: A gig was scheduled at the "Aragon Ballroom", Chicago, IL with Spirit, It's a Beautiful Day and BOC.
However, BOC cancels at the last minute for some unknown reason, and is replaced by a local band called Ever.
Blue Oyster Cult was scheduled to play June 23, 1972 at the Aragon Ballroom on a bill of: It's A Beautiful Day, Spirit, Blue Oyster Cult.
The June 23, 1972 Chicago Tribune noted that Blue Oyster Cult had cancelled and been replaced by a local band Ever.
The interesting part is that this would be around the dates of the Illinois shows in Niles and Romeoville that you have listed without dates (above). I have found no references to BOC playing in those cities in June 1972.
Cheers for that info Greg - though I do believe the dates for those currently undated Illinois shows are likely to be in the week immediately following June 10 (see Buck Dharma's comments regarding the dating of the shows under the Schererville entry above).
Well, if BOC cancelled out of the above Chicago gig, that leaves 23rd June free for other possibilities...
Right - the presence of the next two gigs largely came about as a result of a casual remark from Albert Bouchard - he emailed to say he remembered BOC playing a couple of gigs at Jai Alai Fronton in Miami supporting the Allman Brothers Band around about this time period.
He originally thought one of them might have been the 20 October 1972 show I had listed for this venue, but I now think the October show was at the Sportatorium with Jeff Beck.
The obvious thing for me to do was to investigate the Allmans angle - are there any known Allmans gigs during this period that would fit the bill?
I found a great site: Hittin' The Web with the Allman Brothers Band - actually, less a site and more an online community, and I searched their database and found these links:
It seems like the Allmans played this very venue on the 23rd and 24th June 1972. Now - the next thing to find out is: is there any chance that BOC could have been on the bill for these two shows?
Here's what they say for the 23rd:
RANDYGALVAN on May 14, 2002 - 06:52 PM
First ABB show that i saw missed both shows in Pittsburgh with original members! Was down there on a little vacation and heard radio ad and me and a buddy hitched a ride with some freakin friends.
Scored a little blonde hash from a 7 or 8 year old dude who was from New York. Blue Oyster Cult opened then John Hammond then Alex Taylor who was the best act that night.
ABB seemed a little off to me but considering the situation understandable. Mountain Jam was the closing number. Had to hitch back to our hotel and could not catch a ride. Bitten by a million mosquitoes.
rabidr57 on Jun 15, 2005 - 04:02 PM
My first show, Blue Oyster Cult and John Hammond opened...
This was great! Two posters both mention BOC as being on the bill!!
By the way - check that Hittin' The Web with the Allman Brothers Band site out - it's a must for any ABB fan...
Again - like the previous gig, this show is confirmed by the Hittin' The Web with the Allman Brothers Band site:
The line-up info they give for this show is slightly less explicit that that for the 23rd:
One fan reports Wet Willie opened. Another says Blue Oyster Cult opened, followed by Alex Taylor, then John Hammond Jr, then the ABB.
Thanks to Albert Bouchard's memory of playing two gigs, I think it's reasonable to assume BOC played this show also.
If you have any concrete info - please let me know.
I remember the band talking about these dates... the Allmans stored their Harleys in BOC's dressing room & would come in and fire one up every hour or so... running everyone out into the heat with the exhaust fumes...
I saw this show - but I thought the gig I saw was at Atlanta Civic Center with Steppenwolf as headliner
In any event, BOC was the opening act. As they came on, I said to myself, "Sheesh! Get these guys off, I wanna see who I paid to see". As BOC started to play, I was mesmerized. By the time they finished, I was totally blown away. I totally forgot about the headliner and was begging for more BOC. They obliged with an encore, and I spent the rest of the concert talking to my date about great BOC was. It is a compliment to BOC that I can no longer remember who was headlining.
This gig is burned in my memory because the summer of '72 was my break between high school and moving to Atlanta to attend Georgia Tech. I came down in the summer to see that concert at the Atlanta Civic Center on Piedmont Avenue. Back then, we graduated high school in mid June, so the Atlanta gig was somewhere between the middle of June and the end of August '72, cause school started back then the first week of September.
I had a look on Black Sabbath's web site and could find no trace of an Atlanta gig that year, so that makes me think it was definitely Steppenwolf that BOC opened for at the Atlanta Civic Center, and not Sabbath.
This has gotten under my craw, so I am going to look at Atlanta newspaper archives at the library until I find the concert announcement. I will inform you when I get the facts.
BOC.com doesn't mention this date, but this gig was confirmed on the now offline Sabbathlive.com:
"07/22/72: Atlanta Municipal Auditorium, Atlanta GA - Confirmed by Artists Calendar in ROLLING STONE - 7/72"
This actually falls into your Summer timescale...
At the time, I was eighteen and moving to Atlanta to attend college. There was a lot on my mind, and I had not been to Atlanta before. I took a girl to the show I had met at a Beta Club convention earlier that year in Atlanta on a "field trip". The more I think about it, the show I saw musta been the July 22nd show with Black Sabbath at the Atlanta Municipal Auditorium.
I definately need to research this at the library's newspaper archives.
BOC opened for Sabbath not Steppenwolf on Saturday July the 22nd at the old Atlanta Municipal Auditorium. While I don't have documentation, I know this is correct as it was the first concert I ever attended and it was an event that I would not be "gray" on.
I recall BOC performing "Born to be Wild" as an encore, and Black Sabbath only performed for about 30 minutes, as legend has it, Tony Iommi was pretty messed up.
This gig also confirmed here:
This site also offers the information that the gig was originally scheduled at this venue for 19 June 1972 (with no opening act advertised) but was later postponed until 22 July.
Rob Dwyer's now sadly offline Sabbathlive.com confirms this gig took place on this date and mention BOC/J. Geils Band as both being on the bill.
BOC.com doesn't feature this date.
Also: this gig gets a mention on the theband.hiof.no site in the guestbook section. A guy called VT says:
"First concert? hmmmm.. how about Blue Oyster Cult, J Geils (stealing the show) and Black Sabbath Nassau Coliseum circa 1972"
I can confirm that this show took place, I was there. BOC opened, I had never heard of them. They played first and the house lights were still on when they started playing. People were moving about in the isles and finding seats for the first couple of songs.
J. Geils played next and were high energy, bring the house down unbelievable! Black Sabbath closed and were so loud and the sound was terrible, very muddy and muffled.
When the show was over, the parking lot was full of J.Geils converts. In typical NY fashion the chatter was Black Sabbath sucks, J.Geils is great. Sorry, I can't remember the set lists....LOL
In July/August 1972, BOC opened for Black Oak Arkansas and Black Sabbath at Cole Field House, Univ. MD.
Sorry i dont have an accurate date but i can tell you that boc should have headlined and it was definitely late July or early August.
I checked Rob Dwyer's Sabbathlive.com (now offline), and they confirmed this gig but had Argent down as openers!! BOC weren't mentioned.
The bands were definately as i said: Black Sabbath headlining, Black Oak Arkansas in the middle and BOC playing first.
As for Argent, I do not recall if they were originally supposed to be on the bill or not, maybe they were switched at a later date?
They definitely did not play, nor were they supposed to when we went. We knew the 3 bands we were going to see. I simply don't remember anything about Argent in connection with this...
Regarding the College Park, MD gig from 7/28/72, it's highly possible that Blue Oyster Cult shared the bill with Sabbath that night. And given that B.O.C. opened for Sabbath on the previous night in Uniondale and on the 30th in Providence, I'd say it makes perfect sense.
During the 1st leg of their VOLUME 4 tour, Sabbath had a revolving door of opening acts. They didn't nail down a stable opener until the 2nd leg, when they chose Gentle Giant. WHY they chose Gentle Giant is beyond me, because they were a very odd pairing. Maybe they didn't want any competition?! This was admitted by Ronnie Dio during their '81 tour, when they chose Southern Rock acts like Johnny Van Zandt and Doc Holliday to warm up for them!
As for Argent, they did play with Sabbath at a few odd shows during that leg (confirmed by 8mm film too), but these things are always subject to change. I'd go with B.O.C. / Black Oak Arkansas theory, regardless of the handbill. Ticket stubs and handbills are often printed up weeks before a show, so they can still be wrong.
When putting this page together I checked the relevant Sabbathlive.com page at the time and was surprised to find this show no longer listed there.
Instead, it had been moved to their cancelled gig page!!
It said: "Conflicts with confirmed show at Gaelic Park. Cancelled?"
Steve seems very sure of his facts - if there definitely was a confirmed Sabbath gig at Gaelic Park, then maybe the original date for this Cole Field House gig (which I got off the now offline Sabbathlive.com) was wrong and it took place on another date?
If you know one way or the other, please let me know.
Yes, I was at this show in July, 1972. My best friend pulled me there to see this new band from NYC. Argent canceled a few days before. The concert was advertised on local radio as the "Black & Blue" show.
The band opened the show, with Black Oak Arkansas and Black Sabath headlining the bill. Of the three bands, B.O.C. blew everyone away. Black Oak Arkanasas was pretty much boo'd and made an early exit. Sabbath was road weary tuning a whole step down so Ozzie could sing.
It was the first time I saw Buck and Eric's pyrotechnic display with crossing guitars and letting the sparks fly. Stairway To the Stars was particularly memorable with Eric's swinging arm during the lyrics - "On your cast, you're broken arm..."
"Before The Kiss" was another highlight with the Long Islanders getting down into a rolling boogie. It was a night to remember. That night made me a die-hard fan for many years to come. Still am!
Strange - black-sabbath.com also has Sabbath cancelled out of this gig:
Does anyone else who was at this show care to chime in with their thoughts?
I was there, Argent wasn't. Terrific show, though I remember all three bands being very "on" that night...
There was no Ritz Theatre in NYC 'til much later...
The Ritz was a rock venue in Greenwich Village from sometime in the late-70's/early-80's til some time in the 90's when it was renamed Webster Hall (which was its original name when it was a Polish dancehall, then an RCA recording studio in the 50's and 60's.
If Marc's right - and he probably is as he comes from there - then that means I'm short a venue name for this gig. Anyone know?
I can confirm that the July 29, 1972 show was at the Ritz Theater, in Staten Island, NY, owned by the Unganos folks. BOC opened for Cactus.
Check out my tour archive sites for Mountain, Ten Years After, Humble Pie and Procol Harum as well as a few venues, like Capitol Theater Port Chester, NY, Aragon & Kinetic in Chicago, Boston Tea Party and Hampton Beach Casino:
As well as being confirmed on the now offline Sabbathlive.com (it mentioned BOC/Bedlam were on the bill), this gig is confirmed here:
The 1972 show on July 30 in Providence RI (with Bedlam and Black Sabbath) was NOT at the Palace Concert theater... it was at the Providence Civic Center (now known as the Dunkin Donuts Center). I know... I was there!
Craig Murto
Late Model Racer magazine
I assume it was the "classic" lineup with the Bouchards. I had never heard the band before that - a friend of mine who'd read some good things about them was all hot to go & I was always ready to go along.
It was a long subway ride from the Village where I lived all the way up thru Manhattan & into the Bronx. It was an outdoor nighttime show, right on the soccer (football) field. You could either stand around on the field or sit in the stands off to the sides, we hung on the field.
Unfortunately I really remember very little in the way of detail about the show. Couldn't tell you what the guys wore or looked like, tho I'm under the impression that one of them (Joe or Allen would be my guess) wore a knee-length black raincoat.
I was mainly impressed by the way they played their instruments & constructed their songs - couldn't make out much of the lyrics. Their playing made me an instant fan tho, & I bought the album as soon as I could. (I'd like to say I ran right out & bought it the very next morning but my memory isn't that good either!)
Gaelic Park was also the place that I saw Jefferson Airplane, my favorite band during the late 1960s, with their "classic" lineup for the last time. So it was really a kind of watershed place when the music was in transition from the 60s to the 70s.
Gaelic Park is still there & still a soccer/football field - there was an article about it in the NY Times a year or 2 ago that I posted on BDTE.
Thanks to Anton, I discovered that there is a review of this gig on rocksbackpages.com but you have to pay to see the full thing.
The review is entitled: "Jeff Beck/Blue Oyster Cult/Flash/Argent: Gaelic Park, New York NY" and it was written by Jon Tiven, Phonograph Record, October 1972.
Thanks to Peter Greendale, I've been sent the two paragraphs which relate to the BOC performance:
"BLUE OYSTER CULT had a real bad time at the big park and oh boy did they know it... one of the guys backstage connected wit Da Cult said "They blew the drum solo" and they may have caused a near-riot in Oswok, Wisc. and a full-blown craze in Virginia, but in their own home they blew it..."
"Heavy metal is their cause, and they got chains and flash guitar and when it's good it's great, but like in Providence last December it didn't go so good. Sandy Pearlman was spotted moaning at the side of the stage, being comforted by Murray S. Krugman and R. Meltzer."
I wonder what was so bad about this show, then? The text above doesn't really give any clue - and as for the mention of "they may have caused a near-riot in Oswok, Wisc. and a full-blown craze in Virginia", what the hell does that mean?
BTW - I also noticed a mention of this show on b15sentra.net where a guy gives the band running order as "BOC/Flash/Argent/Jeff Beck"...
I was at this show, though all I remember about it was that Jeff beck was playing with Beck, Bogart and Appice at the time. He came on very, very late . In fact, many people had left already.
There was an 11 PM curfew at the stadium which was strictly enforced. There were a lot of apartment buildings in the area and the people had made many complaints about the shows, so they had to stop at 11 on the button. They would actually kill the power on stage.
Anyway, I remember Beck only played about 4 songs and then had to stop, which really pissed people off. Sorry I don't remember anything specific about BOC, but I know I had a great time that night!
The only evidence I have that this gig occurred is the above poster off eBay.
| Non-BOC Gig: Arie Crown Theater, Chicago IL (Jeff Beck headlining) |
My first indication that a Chicago gig had been scheduled for this date came from the following email...
Here is a new gig to add to your lists. The information comes from the Chicago Reader weekly newspaper dated August 4, 1972 and gives the band running order as Argent, Blue Oyster Cult and Jeff Beck headlining.
Check out my tour archive sites for Mountain, Ten Years After, Humble Pie and Procol Harum as well as a few venues, like Capitol Theater Port Chester, NY, Aragon & Kinetic in Chicago, Boston Tea Party and Hampton Beach Casino:
That seemed fair enough so I added this date as a new gig. Then I got sent the following:
I was at this gig (I got my first traffic citation in the McCormick Place parking lot!) Arie Crown was a large, sterile theater located in the center of the huge McCormick Place convention complex, on the lakefront, just south of the Chicago loop.
BOC definitely did not play on this bill, only The Jeff Beck Group with Argent. Actually, it was Beck, Bogert & Appice, with Max Middleton on keyboards, and a rather dainty male singer named Kim Milford, who just didn't fit in.
When Kim didn't return for the encore, rumor was Beck fired had him after the main set, before the encore! At one point Beck threw his Strat way up in the air, letting it land on it's back the stage with a resounding SPLAT!
I saw Jeff Beck twice at Arie Crown, this was the second time, the first being the Cozy Powell/Bobby Tench/Clive Chaman/Max Middleton lineup, with The Looking Glass (their big hit was "Brandy") opening. But I never saw BOC at Arie Crown.
The only explanation I can come up with was that there were two separate shows that night, or two shows on consecutive nights, and BOC played the show I didn't attend. Unfortunately, there's not much of a concert history on the Arie Crown website.
So there you have it. That Chicago Reader mention of BOC being on the bill was dated 4 Aug 1972 - that's just 4 days before the show so it looks like they were definitely on the original schedule at least, and must have pulled out pretty late if Robbie's right...
It's would seem especially unfortunate if BOC didn't play because they'd also cancelled out of another gig in Chicago as recently as 23 June with Spirit and It's a Beautiful Day.
See below for info on the gig I originally had down for this date...
I saw BOC open for Emerson, Lake and Palmer at the Minneapolis Armory on 8/10/72. I still have the ticket stub - somewhere. It was a general admission show, $4.50 per ticket. It was also the day I bought my 2nd car - a '68 VW bug - and we drove to the gig in it. Good memories.
I saw both BOC and ELP several more times (mostly in the 70s) and am still a fan of both. The '72 show was my first time seeing BOC and they definitely made an impression on me and my friends. We were soon turning lots of people on to this cool band and their music.
Because of the existance of the handbill giving an Arlington Heights gig down for 10 Aug, I've re-dated this gig for now as just "August". If I subsequently get some dating evidence for this Minneapolis Armory gig, I'll amend that...
The August 4, 1972 "Minnesota Daily" University of Minnesota student newspaper has the ELP show as "next Thursday" which would have been August 10.
There is also a review of the show in the August 18 issue and refers to the concert as "last Thursday."
BOC is not mentioned, however, in either article.
OK Greg - thanks! Damn!! Two gigs for the 10th August, with printed evidence for each!
I think, all things considered, Greg's newspaper evidence sounds like the better proof... if that's true, I wonder what happened to the Hersey High School gig...?
The venue was Charlotte Park Center, and they opened for The James Gang.
James Gang was the headliner, I believe, and the venue name - Charlotte Park Center - is correct. I lived there then and remember that show.
This would have been the first time I would have been much-anticipatedly able to see them live, and thus the date is seared into my memory.
I remember hearing Cities on Flame, Born to be Wild, the drum solo with Eric and Buck(?) helping out.
I was definitely at a concert there, with those two bands, and the date fits for me because it was the summer after my college freshman year. I'm sure you would need more verification, and my ticket stubs are long lost.
This gig was held at a Chapel Hill dance club on E. Franklin Ave. called The Electric Company. Unfortunately, I don't remember any other details. I was a freshman at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill that fall.
This gig gets a mention on the runet.edu (Radford University) site.
I was in the warm up band that played before BOC at both the Clinch Valley concert and also the 27 Jan 1973 Johnson City TN gig that replaced the scheduled 23 Sept Kingsport concert mentioned below. (It was an indoor stadium, connected to some school, I think. It was pretty packed and a great audience).
I played lead guitar in a band called Mulberry, we out of Martinsville, VA and later Fort Lauderdale, FLA.
Blue Oyster told us they would fly out from NY area for every gig - booked like tours, but they didn't tour at the time. This was better for them from the personal side, although it probably cost them to do it. They also said they were on their second rise -- they had sort of made it many years before, but faded, then in the seventies they were coming back after so many years.
They were interested in us because our originals were somewhat 'cosmic' - more like Yardbirds and Moody Blues. We used the harmonica as well. Rocket-fast leads but not as heavy or dark as they were. In other words, we probably reminded them of musical roots in their past. I was of course pleased to play with anyone who had a big audience. We had played before Alice Cooper and the Allman Brothers, etc. so we had some experience but it was always a big deal and a thrill to be on the bill with a professional group. Fun times.
Lets see, I think both gigs were booked by a guy named Dick Winstead. He booked a few other jobs for us.
At the Clinch Valley gig they used Red Wheeler sound - they had these huge base bins.
In Tennessee, the monitors were Altec A7 (Voice of the Theatre) hung off the front of the stage. Nice.
I was in awe of BOC's amp set: stacks of Hi-Watt, Marshall, Orange.
They used the same guitars we did that were popular at that time: Gibson SG, Gibson ES335. Buck Dharma had a switch on his SG guitar to select between two amp stacks. One was set clean, the other overdrive. They had the industrial style that became known as metal. We were trying to be more of a Brit style, I guess.
Funny thing, at the VA gig, we got an encore, and although we had played originals, we came out with Gimme Shelter by the Stones for the encore, and management had a cow about this because you can't play a big gig like that and just do other bands music - they can demand royalty payment right then. We- did not realize it till they told us afterwards, but no harm done - it worked for the crowd. We opened the show with Fleetwood Mac's "Oh Well" before going to the originals, but they may not have noticed that one because it was an underground fave at the time.
Another funny thing - at the Tennessee gig, I was surprised to see all this stuff being thrown up on stage - it was like grasshoppers or something. A bit later I realized it was a shower of joints. They were throwing reefer up on stage. Of course nobody picked it up because security was standing around but still it was wild. Nevertheless we always tried to play straight because we wanted to be in tune, and getting high hurt the quality of the music.
Following these jobs, we were supposed to front the band Argent (Hold Your Head UP) but that got cancelled because the band folded before the gig. That may be the cancellation the other poster remembered (see 28 July further up the page).
The club in Greenville was called the Music Factory. It's still standing but it's an office now. There were 2 other bands with them, but I don't remember their names. They were locals and not well known.
There was a group of 20 or so fans from my hometown who took over the front of the stage for the show. We had never seen any pictures of the band before that night, so we didn't know what any of them looked like, but we knew all the songs.
I am pretty sure the 1972 Kingsport TN date did not occur, as if my [smoky] memory serves me at all, we heard about tickets going to go on sale, but the show was canceled before they went on sale.
It was going to be at the Dobbins Bennett HS football field, and there was something about noise levels [imagine!].
I remember being very excited when we heard they were gonna play East Tenn. State Univ to 'replace' that gig - then it was 6 months before it happened (see 27 Jan 1973).
My home town is Bristol Tenn, between K'port and JC. It was my first year of college...
I think this concert was held in the Gym of Dobbins Bennett High School in Kingsport, TN.
If you check the previous note, you'll see that Rick reckons this gig was cancelled and re-scheduled 4 months later at East Tenn State Uni gym.
I couldn't tell from what you say if this was a gig you actually attended (so that would mean it DID happen) or was one you remembered hearing about or something like that - meaning it might or might not have definitely happened?
I did see the note about the cancellation, but I did see the band in the Dobbins Bennett High School gym. I can't be positive about the date. I was the first concert I ever attended. I was a Junior at a near by High School at the time (72). I was right up front and my ears rang for several hours after the concert.
I was a fan from thereon. My brother went to ETSU so I would know if it was actually the later concert in Johnson City. Thanks to WQUT-FM there were a lot of fans in the area. It was the only hard rock station in those days between Knoxville, TN and Roanoke, VA.
Could this gig be the free outdoor show referred to here, which took place outside the Albright Knox Art Gallery?
I originally had this gig listed as being at the Jai Alai Fronton as this was the venue given on the original boc.com lists. However I've now switched the venue to the Sportatorium as a result of the above article from Billboard [ 11 Nov 1972 ].
This short piece was from the recording studios section of the magazine, and gave details of what Criteria Sound Studios from Miami had been up to recently. Here's the relevant text:
There's a few things of interest there - first, a date is given: "The weekend of the 21st " - well the 21st of October (remember - this article came out on 11th November) was a Saturday, so I'm assuming the fact that I have this Miami gig down as Friday the 20th is no great stretch.
They mention "three dates" with Jeff Beck - the assumption is that all three were with BOC - though, I realise that's not explicitly stated.
Also - they say that they "caught both Beck... and... Blue Oyster Cult". This means that there is a 1972 recording of a BOC gig - possibly more than one gig - lying round on someone's shelf somewhere!!
A criminal waste, I call it...
Also - before I added the article above to the site - I was contacted by Albert Bouchard who said he thought this gig might have been one of two BOC played with the Allmans at the Jai Alai about this time.
Thinking the above article to be good evidence for these three gigs definitely being with Jeff Beck, I decided to do a little digging into the prospect of two previously unknown gigs at the Jai Alai in 1972 supporting the Allman Brothers...
Check out the 23 June 1972: Jai Alai Fronton Miami entry to see what I found...
So - were BOC recorded or not? The article above says BOC were caught on tape...
I wonder if this Criteria Sound Studios are still going in some shape or form?
No Cocoa Beach gig mentioned in the above article, but they do mention three FL gigs and this was BOC's third gig listed as part of a mini-Florida tour on boc.com, so I'm happy to go with it...
Your excellent database lists the date and town for this concert but not the venue or other bands which appeared.
Over the years I have been compiling a concert listing for Wishbone Ash and my records have Wishbone Ash and REO Speedwagon supporting BOC at the Electric Park Ballroom Waterloo Iowa on the 30th Oct 1972.
The book 'Blowin' Free - Thirty Years of Wishbone Ash' by Gary Carter & Mark Chatterton contains a listing of Wishbone Ash concerts and on the 30th October 1972 they were playing in Waterloo Iowa. The venue is given as Electric Park Waterloo.
I'm afraid I don't have a reference for the source of my info which included REO Speedwagon at this concert but I am fairly confident the details are accurate.
Best Wishes on collecting the missing info.
November 1, 1972
Wharton Fieldhouse
Moline, Illinois
Headliner
Wishbone Ash
Support
Blue Oyster Cult
Speed-O-Meter
Limousine
I only know of the existance of this gig thanks to research done by Jill Atwood who unearthed the above advert...
Camel were the openers for this show, but as they are described in the newspaper report above as being from Stamford CT, then clearly this is a different Camel to the better known English prog rock band from Canterbury UK...
This date is confirmed by the motorcitymusicarchives.com website.
One gig that is conspicuous by its absence from your lists was the Dec 31, 1972 New Year's Eve show in Rochester; it was at some dome kind of venue, I'll find out from some of my friends still back in Rochester what the name of it was.
It wasn't the War Memorial - it was much smaller than that, though my friend Bruce says the venue was in the Monroe County Fairgrounds...
BOC headlined, and they weren't very big at that point. I'm sure somebody must have opened, but I have no idea who it was.
The main thing I remember about the show was that when Buck and Eric rubbed their guitar necks together during "Born To Be Wild", and making a wild noise, I was seeing sparks shoot out from the guitar necks and was frantically worrying while they were doing that, that they were going to electrocute themselves!!
Could the actual venue name have been the Dome Arena? I looked it up and it's on the site of "the annual Monroe County Fair" and it does seem to fit your description of the venue...
My friend comfirmed that the actual venue that BOC played on NYE in Rochester was the Dome Arena, and he says the support was Manfred Mann's Earth Band...
I looked on Nigel Stanworth's Manfred Mann site for possible corroboration and it says there that Manfred Mann were playing Plymouth UK on the day before this gig (30th December 1972):
Plymouth UK one day, Rochester USA the next would be rather tight, from a scheduling point of view... I wonder if that UK gig is definitely accurate? The Manfred Mann gig list does show the band were playing US dates earlier in December so I think it's a possibility they could have still been around for New Years Eve...
I'll try and investigate further, but - as usual - if any of you folk know anything, please get in touch...
I think also that these date(s) were played in 1972 - if you have any info, please let me know:
| 001 | Albright Knox Art Gallery | Buffalo | New York |
A friend wrote me to say:
"Bob, did you go with JH and myself to the free concert they gave at the Albright Knox in fall of 71?
They played outside, facing Delaware Park Lake. And they were selling their 1st Album for 99 cents!"
I wasn't there and I don't specifically remember it. I'm guessing it was not likely 1972 if it did happen. But for what it's worth, two of my BOC shows I saw were with the same JH guy.
And I did see free shows in Delaware Park (1974 and 1976) so I know they had them, though my shows were not in the same area - the Albright Knox Art Gallery is a world-class gallery that borders Delaware Park.
Nowadays they have Jazz Concerts in the area he's describing, but I don't recall rock concerts there.
OK - well as the first LP came out in January 1972, Bob's mate can't have seen them in 1971 if that first LP was also on sale at the event. So I think we're definitely talking 1972...
Interestingly enough, if you check back further up this page to the gig dated Saturday 14 October 1972, you'll see a gig listed for Buffalo at an unknown venue.
Could we be talking about the same show?
| 002 | Mobile Municipal Auditorium | Mobile | Alabama |
I attended a BOC concert in Mobile, Alabama in Fall 1972 or Spring 1973, Mobile Civic Center. A fight or something broke at the end - I had not stayed 'til the end ( had an early curfew!) but read about it the next day in the paper (parents were very upset that I may have been there during).
Hope this helps. Newspaper would be Mobile Press Register, can't remember month or time of year.
This gig was at the Mobile Municipal Auditorium, which has been torn down and now, at the same spot, is the Civic Center. I'm not sure of the date though - it may have been in 1971 or 1972. I was 16, my birthday is in September, I was born in 1955.
Dr John played, then Blue Oyster Cult - Spirit was the headliner. I recall lots of kids with painted faces in the fountain out front.
There was such a small turnout, most of the fans were on the auditorium floor, after BOC, there was a too long wait and people started chanting, "Spirit, Spirit, Spirit, etc". Then the announcer finally came out and said the concert was over, they were sorry but not enough tickets had been sold for Spirit to play.
Everybody yelled obscenities and some folks grabbed their metal chairs and slung them about until there was a pile of them, people started leaving, then someone slung a chair into the glass doors.
Mobile is the home of the America's Junior Miss pageant. The crown and scepter was displayed in a glass case in the outer hall of the auditorium. Someone cracked it open and disturbed the relics, whether they were just mislaid or stolen, I don't recall.
I walked out and there were cops chasing kids and kids throwing bottles at cop cars. I imagine they arrested quite a few. That's all I recollect.
| 003 | Pensacola/Mobile | Florida/Alabama |
I know we played on the Gulf of Mexico in the early part of july. It was most likely Pensacola but it could have been Mobile.
We weren't into taking a month off in the middle of the summer.
| 004 | Atlantic Christian College | Wilson | North Carolina |
Just trying to help out with the 71-73 history. BOC played at Atlantic Christian College in Wilson, North Carolina - I was in high school and can't quite remember the date, but they only played songs from their first album, which was in fact released because I immediately went out to buy the cassette... which when i got it it was recorded backwards on the tape... but I digress. :).
So if their first album was released Jan 1972, and T&M wasn't released until Feb 1973, 1/72 - 2/73 is our window for the ACC show in Wilson NC... and most likely closer to 1/72, because they didn't play any songs from their "upcoming" album.
I saw another entry for May 1972 on the site where there was confusion about Wilson, NC or Wilson College in Asheville NC on May 3 or May 9 1972, but I can tell you that the gig I saw was DEFINITELY in Wilson NC, so May 1972 meshes perfectly.
I was in high school and this concert was my first ever. It was in the college's smallish gymnasium, and acoustics were awful. The volume level was ear-splitting... my ears rang for days after.
The two other things I remember from the show was 1) that the front man remarked: "Let's take our clothes off and have a party." 2) One of the songs (later identified as "Then Came the Last Days of May") had the most gorgeous ever long sweet guitar solo... that I still remember and can hum because my friend recorded some of the show on his portable cassette player, and i played the tape over and over for weeks... ever a part of my psyche now.
It was a real letdown to find that the studio version from the album that I purchased shortly after wasn't nearly as interesting, and that just in general the album did not live up to the live experience. That show however still lives in my top 3 favorite concerts.
| 005 | Spectrum | Philadelphia | PA |
I am certain my first gig was at the spectrum in Philly PA; it was Blue Oyster Cult. I got in with My Mom and My brother. The price was only eight bucks a piece, and we also got to see Alice Cooper and I am almost positive that Johnny Winter was on the bill, too but don't hold Me to it, I was only 7 years old and I have short term memory now.
It might have been a different concert with different people, Johnny Winter that is.
Anyways, I do remember the fact that the lasers were cool and the guitar solos were amazing as was the drum solo, but then again I heard better drummers since.
Like I said I was 7 at the time. Anyways, it was a ball.
A strange conundrum, this one...
BOC only ever played with Alice in 1972 (though no dates in Philly are on record), plus one show in 1973 and one in 1980, a European gig in 1998, plus single gigs in 2000, 2006 and 2007.
The lasers only came in early 1976 and stayed until early 1979, so fall outside the dates they could have played with Alice Cooper...
Obviously, any help would be appreciated on this one...