California Jam
Encyclopedia
California Jam, also known as Cal Jam, was a rock music
festival
concert held at the Ontario Motor Speedway
in Ontario, California
on April 6, 1974. It was produced by ABC Entertainment, Sandy Feldman, Don Branker
and Leonard Stogel
. Pacific Presentations
, a Los Angeles-based concert company headed by Sepp Donahower and Gary Perkins, coordinated the event, booked all the talent, and ran the advertising. It attracted 250,000 fans that paid, which at the time, set the record for the highest paid attendance and highest gross in history. It was one of the last of the original wave of rock festival
s, as well as one of the most well-executed and financially successful, and presaged the era of media consolidation and the corporatization of the rock music industry.
Emerson, Lake & Palmer and Deep Purple co-headlined the California Jam Festival.
Deep Purple's performance was one of the first to feature their third line-up, which included vocalist David Coverdale
and vocalist/bassist Glenn Hughes. Deep Purple were given the choice of when to go on stage, and chose to go on before ELP. Figuring that as with all festivals, the show would run late anyway, they stalled and made everyone wait until after dark before they hit the stage. Regardless of this, the show didn't end up running late. At the end of the show, guitarist Ritchie Blackmore
threw multiple guitars out into the audience and attacked one of the network's video cameras (which had been getting between him and the audience) with a guitar. A mishap with a pyrotechnic
effect caused an explosion which briefly set the stage on fire. The group is said to have left the concert via helicopter to escape possible arrest from angry fire marshals and ABC executives.
ELP's California Jam performance was broadcast nationwide in the US and is often seen as the summit of the band's career. It was at this festival that the famous footage of Keith Emerson
playing a grand piano spinning end-over-end 50 feet above the ground was taken.
Another record established at California Jam was for the largest (most powerful) concert sound system ever assembled. Tycobrahe Sound Company combined the touring systems of Black Oak Arkansas, Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Earth Wind and Fire, and Rare Earth (each manufactured by Tycobrahe), plus 16-ft bass horns from Phoenix Sound and several folded bass horns from Flag Systems. Total power was 54,000 watts RMS, provided by a number of BFA-2000 amplifiers, manufactured by Tycobrahe.
Emerson, Lake and Palmer's touring sound system was set up about 1/2 mile from the stage and timed with a tape delay to coincide with the sound from the stage.
, the concert was not planned for release as a film
or sound recording
. However, several portions of it were broadcast live on the ABC
television network, which was also a sponsor of the show. The audio portion of the show was also broadcast in stereo
on FM radio
stations, an early example of simulcast
ing.
Several performances from the show were eventually released on CD and video, both in bootleg
and authorized form. One of the more notable bootleg recordings was from a 16 year old teenager from New York, Scott Lifshine, who tried to pass off his recordings of a recording from the radio broadcast as something he created. His web site was shut down after he tried selling his unauthorized products without creative approval from the artists involved and the producers of the festival. He attributes these recordings with a mystical effect he calls "Wereo".
Authorized releases include:
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
festival
Festival
A festival or gala is an event, usually and ordinarily staged by a local community, which centers on and celebrates some unique aspect of that community and the Festival....
concert held at the Ontario Motor Speedway
Ontario Motor Speedway
The Ontario Motor Speedway, located in Ontario, California, east of Los Angeles, was the first and only automobile racing facility built to accommodate major races sanctioned by all of the four dominant racing sanctioning bodies: IndyCar Series and USAC for open-wheel oval car races; NASCAR for a ...
in Ontario, California
Ontario, California
Ontario is a city located in San Bernardino County, California, United States, 35 miles east of downtown Los Angeles. Located in the western part of the Inland Empire region, it lies just east of the Los Angeles county line and is part of the Greater Los Angeles Area...
on April 6, 1974. It was produced by ABC Entertainment, Sandy Feldman, Don Branker
Don E. Branker
-Early life:Branker grew up in Fresno. His father and uncle owned and operated Branker Brothers Cattle Co., one of the larger ranching operations in the San Joaquin Valley, until the 1960s when land buyouts by the oil companies cut down on the amount of grazing acreage.The family moved to Los...
and Leonard Stogel
American Airlines Flight 191
American Airlines Flight 191 was a regularly scheduled passenger flight in the United States from O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, Illinois, to Los Angeles International Airport. On May 25, 1979, the McDonnell Douglas DC-10-10 operating the route crashed moments after takeoff from Chicago....
. Pacific Presentations
Pacific Presentations
Pacific Presentations is a Los Angeles based concert company started in 1970 by Sepp Donahower, Gary Perkins, and Robert Bogdanovich. It grew out of the ashes of LA's early progressive concert company, Pinnacle Dance Concerts, which was founded in 1967 by Sepp Donahower, Marc Chase and John Van...
, a Los Angeles-based concert company headed by Sepp Donahower and Gary Perkins, coordinated the event, booked all the talent, and ran the advertising. It attracted 250,000 fans that paid, which at the time, set the record for the highest paid attendance and highest gross in history. It was one of the last of the original wave of rock festival
Rock festival
A rock festival, or a rock fest, is a large-scale rock music concert, featuring multiple acts.The first rock festivals were put on in the late 1960s and were important socio-cultural milestones. In the 1980s a minor resurgence of festivals occurred with charity as the goal.Today, they are often...
s, as well as one of the most well-executed and financially successful, and presaged the era of media consolidation and the corporatization of the rock music industry.
Performers
Acts that performed at the festival in order of appearance:- Rare EarthRare Earth (band)Rare Earth is an American rock band affiliated with Motown's Rare Earth record label , who prospered in 1970-1972. Although not the first white band signed to Motown, Rare Earth was the first big hit-making act signed by Motown that consisted only of white members...
- Earth, Wind & FireEarth, Wind & FireEarth, Wind & Fire is an American soul and R&B band formed in Chicago, Illinois, in 1969 by Verdine and Maurice White. Also known as EWF, the band has won six Grammy Awards and four American Music Awards. They have been inducted into both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Vocal Group Hall of...
- Eagles
- Seals & CroftsSeals and CroftsSeals and Crofts is a band made up of Jim Seals and Dash Crofts . The soft rock duo was one of the most successful musical acts of the 1970s. They are best known for their hits "Summer Breeze" and "Diamond Girl"...
- Black Oak ArkansasBlack Oak ArkansasBlack Oak Arkansas is an American Southern rock band named after the band's hometown of Black Oak, Arkansas. The band reached the height of its fame in the 1970s with ten charting albums released in that decade...
- Black SabbathBlack SabbathBlack Sabbath are an English heavy metal band, formed in Aston, Birmingham in 1969 by Ozzy Osbourne , Tony Iommi , Geezer Butler , and Bill Ward . The band has since experienced multiple line-up changes, with Tony Iommi the only constant presence in the band through the years. A total of 22...
- Deep PurpleDeep PurpleDeep Purple are an English rock band formed in Hertford in 1968. Along with Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath, they are considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal and modern hard rock, although some band members believe that their music cannot be categorised as belonging to any one genre...
- Emerson, Lake & PalmerEmerson, Lake & PalmerEmerson, Lake & Palmer, also known as ELP, are an English progressive rock supergroup. They found success in the 1970s and sold over forty million albums and headlined large stadium concerts. The band consists of Keith Emerson , Greg Lake and Carl Palmer...
Emerson, Lake & Palmer and Deep Purple co-headlined the California Jam Festival.
Deep Purple's performance was one of the first to feature their third line-up, which included vocalist David Coverdale
David Coverdale
David 'Jack' Coverdale is an English rock singer, most famous for his work with the his own hard rock band Whitesnake which achieved massive commercial success.-Early life:...
and vocalist/bassist Glenn Hughes. Deep Purple were given the choice of when to go on stage, and chose to go on before ELP. Figuring that as with all festivals, the show would run late anyway, they stalled and made everyone wait until after dark before they hit the stage. Regardless of this, the show didn't end up running late. At the end of the show, guitarist Ritchie Blackmore
Ritchie Blackmore
Richard Hugh "Ritchie" Blackmore is an English guitarist and songwriter, who was known as one of the first guitarists to fuse Classical music elements with rock. He fronted his own band Rainbow after leaving Deep Purple where he was unhappy because his favourite musical style wasn't adequately...
threw multiple guitars out into the audience and attacked one of the network's video cameras (which had been getting between him and the audience) with a guitar. A mishap with a pyrotechnic
Pyrotechnics
Pyrotechnics is the science of using materials capable of undergoing self-contained and self-sustained exothermic chemical reactions for the production of heat, light, gas, smoke and/or sound...
effect caused an explosion which briefly set the stage on fire. The group is said to have left the concert via helicopter to escape possible arrest from angry fire marshals and ABC executives.
ELP's California Jam performance was broadcast nationwide in the US and is often seen as the summit of the band's career. It was at this festival that the famous footage of Keith Emerson
Keith Emerson
Keith Noel Emerson is an English keyboard player and composer. Formerly a member of the Keith Emerson Trio, John Brown's Bodies, The T-Bones, V.I.P.s, P.P. Arnold's backing band, and The Nice , he was a founder of Emerson, Lake & Palmer , one of the early supergroups, in 1970...
playing a grand piano spinning end-over-end 50 feet above the ground was taken.
Attendance and Technology
The concert set a record for the largest number of paid attendance at such an event. Although more people attended the festival at Woodstock in New York, only a few had purchased tickets.Another record established at California Jam was for the largest (most powerful) concert sound system ever assembled. Tycobrahe Sound Company combined the touring systems of Black Oak Arkansas, Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Earth Wind and Fire, and Rare Earth (each manufactured by Tycobrahe), plus 16-ft bass horns from Phoenix Sound and several folded bass horns from Flag Systems. Total power was 54,000 watts RMS, provided by a number of BFA-2000 amplifiers, manufactured by Tycobrahe.
Emerson, Lake and Palmer's touring sound system was set up about 1/2 mile from the stage and timed with a tape delay to coincide with the sound from the stage.
Broadcast, telecast, and record releases
Unlike other rock festivals such as WoodstockWoodstock Festival
Woodstock Music & Art Fair was a music festival, billed as "An Aquarian Exposition: 3 Days of Peace & Music". It was held at Max Yasgur's 600-acre dairy farm in the Catskills near the hamlet of White Lake in the town of Bethel, New York, from August 15 to August 18, 1969...
, the concert was not planned for release as a film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
or sound recording
Sound recording and reproduction
Sound recording and reproduction is an electrical or mechanical inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects. The two main classes of sound recording technology are analog recording and digital recording...
. However, several portions of it were broadcast live on the ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
television network, which was also a sponsor of the show. The audio portion of the show was also broadcast in stereo
Stereophonic sound
The term Stereophonic, commonly called stereo, sound refers to any method of sound reproduction in which an attempt is made to create an illusion of directionality and audible perspective...
on FM radio
FM broadcasting
FM broadcasting is a broadcasting technology pioneered by Edwin Howard Armstrong which uses frequency modulation to provide high-fidelity sound over broadcast radio. The term "FM band" describes the "frequency band in which FM is used for broadcasting"...
stations, an early example of simulcast
Simulcast
Simulcast, shorthand for "simultaneous broadcast", refers to programs or events broadcast across more than one medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at the same time. For example, Absolute Radio is simulcast on both AM and on satellite radio, and the BBC's Prom concerts are often...
ing.
Several performances from the show were eventually released on CD and video, both in bootleg
Bootleg recording
A bootleg recording is an audio or video recording of a performance that was not officially released by the artist or under other legal authority. The process of making and distributing such recordings is known as bootlegging...
and authorized form. One of the more notable bootleg recordings was from a 16 year old teenager from New York, Scott Lifshine, who tried to pass off his recordings of a recording from the radio broadcast as something he created. His web site was shut down after he tried selling his unauthorized products without creative approval from the artists involved and the producers of the festival. He attributes these recordings with a mystical effect he calls "Wereo".
Authorized releases include:
- California JammingCalifornia JammingCalifornia Jamming is a live album by British hard rock band Deep Purple, recorded in 1974 and originally released in 1996, it was re-released as a remastered edition in 2003 with the bonus track "Lay Down, Stay Down"....
, CD of Deep PurpleDeep PurpleDeep Purple are an English rock band formed in Hertford in 1968. Along with Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath, they are considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal and modern hard rock, although some band members believe that their music cannot be categorised as belonging to any one genre...
's performance (also released under alternate titles) - Live in California 74Live in California 74Live in California 74 is a live DVD of the first California Jam concert performance from headliner Deep Purple released in 2005. It was recorded and aired live by ABC-TV on 6 April 1974 at the Ontario Speedway near Los Angeles CA...
, DVD of Deep PurpleDeep PurpleDeep Purple are an English rock band formed in Hertford in 1968. Along with Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath, they are considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal and modern hard rock, although some band members believe that their music cannot be categorised as belonging to any one genre...
's performance - Beyond the Beginning, Emerson, Lake & PalmerEmerson, Lake & PalmerEmerson, Lake & Palmer, also known as ELP, are an English progressive rock supergroup. They found success in the 1970s and sold over forty million albums and headlined large stadium concerts. The band consists of Keith Emerson , Greg Lake and Carl Palmer...
DVD including 44 minutes of their California Jam performance