LivingLargeDownAtTheOaklandAlamedaCountyColiseum
OnTheGreenVille
When I was in my last year of high school, which was the year that punk broke, my friends and I formed a garage band that actually played in a real garage, with cardboard egg cartons stuck to the walls and everything...I remember some of what happened...The rest I figure I can just make up...
Part I - Do You Feel Like We Do?
The 97 straight weeks that 'Frampton Comes Alive' charted pretty much traced the entire evolution of the thing.
We were playing flip disk down in the basement at the home of the Big W when that damnable double album first arrived in our midst in the spring of 1976.
S. brought it.
The rest of us figured he found about it from Miles, the guy who ran the sound down at the Rec Center. If we had known that it actually came his girlfriend it probably never would have made it to the turntable.
But, as the rampant '70's musical chauvanism that steered us clear of acts like KC and the Sunshine Band had been momentarily locked up thanks to our teenage-headed ignorance of what was really going on, the talk box started squawking and the game resumed.
Flip disk was essentially carpet hockey without sticks. We'd been playing it since junior highschool and in the beginning it had all been finesse, fun, and sweeping arms sending the little plastic disk/puck over the baseball glove covered hand of the outstretched goalie.
But, more often than not that spring, the game had turned Broad Street Bully tough. As a result, it was not uncommon for the games to end with a hyperextended finger and/or a bashed head.
Today, though, it was a wild swipe of mine that sent the disk crashing through the basement window that brought things to an abrupt halt just as the former Humble Pie (almost) frontman started shouting out to some guy named 'Pumpman' on the keyboards.
Of course, given my penchant for mondegreen moments, even way back then, I had no idea that this particular fine fellow was actually a fantastic musician named Bob Mayo.
When I was in my last year of high school, which was the year that punk broke, my friends and I formed a garage band that actually played in a real garage, with cardboard egg cartons stuck to the walls and everything...I remember some of what happened...The rest I figure I can just make up...
Part I - Do You Feel Like We Do?
The 97 straight weeks that 'Frampton Comes Alive' charted pretty much traced the entire evolution of the thing.
We were playing flip disk down in the basement at the home of the Big W when that damnable double album first arrived in our midst in the spring of 1976.
S. brought it.
The rest of us figured he found about it from Miles, the guy who ran the sound down at the Rec Center. If we had known that it actually came his girlfriend it probably never would have made it to the turntable.
But, as the rampant '70's musical chauvanism that steered us clear of acts like KC and the Sunshine Band had been momentarily locked up thanks to our teenage-headed ignorance of what was really going on, the talk box started squawking and the game resumed.
****
Flip disk was essentially carpet hockey without sticks. We'd been playing it since junior highschool and in the beginning it had all been finesse, fun, and sweeping arms sending the little plastic disk/puck over the baseball glove covered hand of the outstretched goalie.
But, more often than not that spring, the game had turned Broad Street Bully tough. As a result, it was not uncommon for the games to end with a hyperextended finger and/or a bashed head.
Today, though, it was a wild swipe of mine that sent the disk crashing through the basement window that brought things to an abrupt halt just as the former Humble Pie (almost) frontman started shouting out to some guy named 'Pumpman' on the keyboards.
Of course, given my penchant for mondegreen moments, even way back then, I had no idea that this particular fine fellow was actually a fantastic musician named Bob Mayo.
_____
The image at the top of the post is from a post-album release concert in Oakland's then (truly) dual purpose football/baseball stadium that was put together by Bill Graham - it's quite a story for the time....It looks to me like the stage is jutting out in front of the center field bleachers which means that the crowd, when it looked over the castle-themed stage, would have had a glorious view of the East Bay Hills that is now obliterated by that goldarned 'Mount Davis'.
.
12 comments:
Humble Pie, even after punk rock's fallout reached our distant colonial outpost, was always one of my very favourite bands. Still are. Cannot think of a thunderous blue eye soul band their equal to this day. Love Frampton's solo albums too - except for the double lp live one you reference. That does not mean I may not like it now. All kinds of stuff that sucked the big one in the late '70s tickles me now and when I soon play both sides of Comes Alive it will not surprise me if I quite like it too.
As for your Ultra Violent Frisbee Hockey League? In Surrey we played tackle football without pads or helmets without disrespecting one another. Quite the opposite. When the game ended what we shared, aside from union made beer and bad jokes, was respect.
Beer--
We did that no pad tackle thing too...called it 'Cream 'Um'...That was more a family game though.
.
Dazed and confused here.
My two close encounters with bands was listening to "Led Zep" Live at a private club in Nottingham back in '74 and sharing a 4 bed stateroom on a night boat coming back from Europe in '83, with a group called "Gang of Four", groupies and all!
Those were the days my friend................
EE--
I turned down the 1977 Zeppelin show in Seattle because there was no way I was going to pay $12 (American!) to watch 'four jerks on a stage'...You can see where this is going given the musical year...
PF to this day remains a class act. Finally got to see him a few years ago in Langley of all places. The guy did not phone it in, in contrast to Steve Miller who also played at the concert.
GF--
Ya, Frampton strikes me as a pretty thoughtful, still-engaged musician (despite his significant health issues).
.
Frampton, an accomplished dude, isn't in the top guitarists of all time conversation. He has always been a tryer however. Same as all the Pie. Don't think he ever wakes up to find out he did not get stuck in a shit English job all his life and smile widely, flashing those great teeth of his to brighten the room, as he greets the day (despite his significant health issues).
Frampton never appealed to me. His music was not that great. Just played one of his numbers and it still doesn't sound good.
David Bowie was extremely talented. Some where I have an old L.P. of his which has a couple of songs where the music is so amazing, it incorporates other styles. Have to go find it.
Now Eddy Cochran, he was amazing. Have one of his L.P.s and the drumming in one of the songs is so amazing, one of the former spousal units was at his last concert in England.
Might have to go downstairs and find some of those old L.P.s come to think of it, the sibling had the sticky fingers L.P. by the Stones, yes from all the way back then. Guess its mine now.
Being north of 60, I never got into Frampton, and me and my gang consider Bowie to be all show and little content.
Always into The Clash, Pistols and such.
I had a sweet spot for the anti-fascist Thatcher stuff of the ska/reggae/two tone stuff, with a smattering of the poppy quirky stuff of XTC, Squeeze, etc.
Fuck I'm old.
Would love some on newer energetic music. Haven't taken a deep dive into the music scene since the anti-bush punk scene.
Thank you all for the memories.
Keep up the great posts, Ross
JP--
Try these kids (and some old heavy hitter of the skins guy)!
.
Thanks, Ross!
Not bad!
I'll be taking a deeper dive.
JP--
Each of the 'Boy Genius' kids has a different solo project as well.
I also like these kids, but they might be a little to poppy for you.
.
Post a Comment