A Rock n' Roll Historian

Sunday, August 17, 2014

1966 "Where the Action Is" Summer Tour

Dick Clark gets the red-hot Young Rascals to headline this leg of the "Where the Action Is" tour. The remainder of the bill was rather pedestrian as the Critters and Knickerbockers had been chart acts but B.J. Thomas and the Triumphs, Keith Allison and the Shades of Blue were steady live acts but nothing to write home about at this point.

7/1/66 Long Island Arena, Commack, NY

Knickerbockers, Young Rascals, The Critters, B.J. Thomas, Keith Allison, Shades of Blue, Action Kids

7/3/66 Convention Hall, Conneaut Lake Park, PA

Talent: Knickerbockers, Young Rascals, The Critters, B.J. Thomas, Keith Allison, Shades of Blue, Action Kids

7/4/66 South Mountain Fairgrounds, Gettysburg, PA

Talent: Young Rascals, The Triumphs, The Critters, Keith Allison, Action Kids

7/8/66 Forman Field, Norfolk, VA

Knickerbockers, Young Rascals, The Critters, B.J. Thomas, Keith Allison, Shades of Blue, Action Kids

7/9/66 Coliseum, Greensboro, NC

Talent: Young Rascals, The Triumphs, The Critters, Keith Allison, Action Kids

7/10/66 Raleigh Co. Armory, Beckley, WVA

Knickerbockers, Young Rascals, The Critters, B.J. Thomas, Keith Allison, Shades of Blue, Action Kids

7/10/66 Civic Center, Charleston, WVA

Knickerbockers, Young Rascals, The Critters, B.J. Thomas, Keith Allison, Shades of Blue, Action Kids

7/ /66 Huntington, WVA

Knickerbockers, Young Rascals, The Critters, B.J. Thomas, Keith Allison, Shades of Blue, Action Kids

7/13/66 Municipal Auditorium, El Dorado, AR

Knickerbockers, Young Rascals, The Critters, B.J. Thomas, Keith Allison, Shades of Blue, Action Kids

7/18/66 Auditorium, Columbus, GA

Knickerbockers, Young Rascals, The Critters, B.J. Thomas, Keith Allison, Shades of Blue, Action Kids

7/19/66 Civic Center, Laurel, MS

Knickerbockers, Young Rascals, The Critters, B.J. Thomas, Keith Allison, Shades of Blue, Action Kids

7/21/66 Coliseum, Orlando, FL

Knickerbockers, Young Rascals, The Critters, B.J. Thomas, Keith Allison, Shades of Blue, Action Kids

7/22/66 Convention Hall, Miami Beach, FL

Knickerbockers, Young Rascals, The Critters, B.J. Thomas, Keith Allison, Shades of Blue, Action Kids

7/23/66 Curtis Hixon Hall, Tampa, FL

Knickerbockers, Young Rascals, The Critters, B.J. Thomas, Keith Allison, Shades of Blue, Action Kids

7/26/66 Birmingham, AL

Knickerbockers, Young Rascals, The Critters, B.J. Thomas, Keith Allison, Shades of Blue, Action Kids

7/28/66 Fair & Exhibition Center, Louisville, KY

Knickerbockers, Young Rascals, The Critters, B.J. Thomas, Keith Allison, Shades of Blue, Action Kids

7/29/66 Memorial Gym, Hazard, KY

Talent: Knickerbockers, Young Rascals, The Critters, B.J. Thomas, Keith Allison, Shades of Blue, Action Kids

7/30/66 Mesker Music Theater, Evansville, IN

Knickerbockers, Young Rascals, The Critters, B.J. Thomas, Keith Allison, Shades of Blue, Action Kids

Wednesday, August 6, 2014

1966 "Where the Action Is" Spring Tour

Back to the Dick Clark Package Tours and the year 1966. Gary Lewis and the Playboys headlined the first "Where the Action Is" tour along with show regulars Paul Revere and the Raiders, Steve Alaimo, Linda Scott and the Knickerbockers. There wasn't that much to differentiate between the Caravans and these tours except that the bill was filled out with the TV show regulars instead of one-hit wonders at the bottom of the bill. This tour was reported to have begun on April 5 but I haven't found the first several dates.

4/9/66 Tingley Coliseum, Albuquerque, NM

Talent: Gary Lewis & The Playboys, Paul Revere & Raiders, Billy Joe Royal, Steve Alaimo, Knickerbockers, Viceroys, Linda Scott

4/11/66 Municipal Auditorium, San Antonio, TX

Talent: Gary Lewis & The Playboys, Paul Revere & Raiders, Billy Joe Royal, Steve Alaimo, Knickerbockers, Viceroys, Linda Scott

4/12/66 Memorial Coliseum, Corpus Christi, TX

Talent: Gary Lewis & The Playboys, Paul Revere & Raiders, Billy Joe Royal, Steve Alaimo, Knickerbockers, Viceroys, Linda Scott

4/13/66 Music Hall, Houston, TX

Talent: Gary Lewis & The Playboys, Paul Revere & Raiders, Billy Joe Royal, Steve Alaimo, Knickerbockers, Viceroys, Linda Scott

4/14/66 Southern State College, Magnolia, AR

Talent: Gary Lewis & The Playboys, Paul Revere & Raiders, Billy Joe Royal, Steve Alaimo, Knickerbockers, Viceroys, Linda Scott

4/15/66 Little Rock, AR

Talent: Gary Lewis & The Playboys, Paul Revere & Raiders, Billy Joe Royal, Steve Alaimo, Knickerbockers, Viceroys, Linda Scott

4/16/66 ISU Arena, Terra Haute, IN

Talent: Gary Lewis & The Playboys, Paul Revere & Raiders, Billy Joe Royal, Steve Alaimo, Knickerbockers, Viceroys, Linda Scott

4/17/66 Kiel Auditorium, St. Louis, MO

Talent: Gary Lewis & The Playboys, Paul Revere & Raiders, Billy Joe Royal, Steve Alaimo, Knickerbockers, Viceroys, Linda Scott

4/19/66 Orpheum Theatre, Madison, WI

Talent: Gary Lewis & The Playboys, Paul Revere & Raiders,

4/20/66 Mary E. Sawyer Auditorium, LaCrosse, WI

Talent: Gary Lewis & The Playboys, Paul Revere & Raiders, Billy Joe Royal, Steve Alaimo, Knickerbockers, Viceroys, Linda Scott

4/21/66 WBAY Auditorium, Green Bay, WI

Talent: Gary Lewis & The Playboys, Paul Revere & Raiders

4/22/66 International Amphitheatre, Chicago, IL

Talent: Gary Lewis & The Playboys, Paul Revere & Raiders, Billy Joe Royal, Steve Alaimo, Knickerbockers, Viceroys, Linda Scott

4/23/66 Coliseum, Columbia, SC

Talent: Gary Lewis & The Playboys, Paul Revere & Raiders, Billy Joe Royal, Steve Alaimo, Knickerbockers, Viceroys, Linda Scott

4/66 Pittsburgh, PA

Talent: Gary Lewis & The Playboys, Paul Revere & Raiders, Billy Joe Royal, Steve Alaimo, Knickerbockers, Viceroys, Linda Scott

4/27/66 Ft. Wayne, IN

Talent: Gary Lewis & The Playboys, Paul Revere & Raiders, Billy Joe Royal, Steve Alaimo, Knickerbockers, Viceroys, Linda Scott

4/28/66 Akron, OH

Talent: Gary Lewis & The Playboys, Paul Revere & Raiders, Billy Joe Royal, Steve Alaimo, Knickerbockers, Viceroys, Linda Scott

4/29/66 Dayton, OH

Talent: Gary Lewis & The Playboys, Paul Revere & Raiders, Billy Joe Royal, Steve Alaimo, Knickerbockers, Viceroys, Linda Scott

4/30/66 Fairgrounds Coliseum, Louisville, KY

Talent: Gary Lewis & The Playboys, Paul Revere & Raiders, Billy Joe Royal, Steve Alaimo, Knickerbockers, Viceroys

5/1/66 Evansville, KY

Talent: Talent: Gary Lewis & The Playboys, Paul Revere & Raiders, Billy Joe Royal, Steve Alaimo, Knickerbockers, Viceroys, Linda Scott

5/1/66 Owensboro, KY

Talent: Talent: Gary Lewis & The Playboys, Paul Revere & Raiders, Billy Joe Royal, Steve Alaimo, Knickerbockers, Viceroys, Linda Scott

5/2/66 UC Fieldhouse Armory, Cincinnati, OH

Talent: Talent: Gary Lewis & The Playboys, Paul Revere & Raiders, Billy Joe Royal, Steve Alaimo, Knickerbockers, Viceroys, Linda Scott

5/6/66 City Arena, Norfolk, VA

Talent: Gary Lewis & The Playboys, Paul Revere & Raiders, Billy Joe Royal, Steve Alaimo, Knickerbockers, Viceroys, Linda Scott

5/7/66 Coliseum, Winston-Salem, NC

Talent: Talent: Gary Lewis & The Playboys, Paul Revere & Raiders, Billy Joe Royal, Steve Alaimo, Knickerbockers, Viceroys, Linda Scott

5/8/66 City Auditorium, Atlanta, GA

Talent: Gary Lewis & The Playboys, Paul Revere & Raiders, Billy Joe Royal, Steve Alaimo, Knickerbockers, Viceroys

5/9/66 Municipal Auditorium, New Orleans

Talent: Gary Lewis & The Playboys, Paul Revere & Raiders, Billy Joe Royal, Steve Alaimo, Knickerbockers, Viceroys, Linda Scott

5/11/66 Municipal Auditorium, Birmingham, AL

Talent: Gary Lewis & The Playboys, Paul Revere & Raiders, Billy Joe Royal, Steve Alaimo, Knickerbockers, Viceroys

5/14/66 Columbus, GA

Talent: Gary Lewis & The Playboys, Paul Revere & Raiders, Billy Joe Royal, Steve Alaimo, Knickerbockers, Viceroys, Linda Scott

5/15/66 Bell Auditorium, Augusta, GA

Talent: Gary Lewis & The Playboys, Paul Revere & Raiders, Billy Joe Royal, Steve Alaimo, Knickerbockers, Viceroys, Linda Scott

Saturday, August 2, 2014

Unexpected Discovery

Every now and then when I'm not in research mode, I'll stumble on a piece of information that fills a gap that I have expended a lot of time and energy on - and had come up short. So late last night as I'm trolling through some of my bookmarked sites a long sought-after piece of information pops up on my screen! I'm currently working on a new diary-type book documenting 10 groups of the British Beat Boom and British Invasion from 1963 to 1967. There are still considerable holes yet to fill but one that had been driving me nuts was a multiple show booking by Freddie and the Dreamers in New York to start off their Fall U.S. tour in 1965. I was alerted to this by a brief note in Variety that said the band would play three RKO Theatres in New York City in one day in a promotion booked by Murray the K. Now, New York generally is pretty easy to locate concert data because of the number of newspapers and magazines that cover entertainment there. But this was incredibly frustrating because it just didn't pop up in any of the research I had conducted. I was able to locate one appearance at the RKO Theatre in New Rochelle shown below.

But none of the others showed up. Leaving it on my to-do list, I moved on. I haven't actively tried to nail these dates down for several months as I continued research on other aspects of the book. So I was floored when perusing the UK eBay site last night and this ad popped up!

Naturally, this brings up a new fact - Murray booked the band in four RKO venues, not three as Variety had reported. So I could have easily missed one had I stopped at finding three shows. Talk about a long day for Freddie and the boys! It also reveals that these shows DIDN'T happen in New York City but in the state of New York, which explains why my searches in NYC papers and mags had not borne any fruit. Such is the life of a rock n' roll historian.

Friday, April 18, 2014

1965 Caravan of Stars - Winter Tour

The 1965 Winter Caravan featured another folk-rock band from California, the Byrds along with their label-mates Paul Revere and the Raiders. Very little positive has ever been mentioned about the Byrds tenure on the Caravan, with the possible exception of David Crosby contently playing John Coltrane on his tape player and influencing Roger McGuinn's lead guitar on the still-unfinished "Eight Miles High." This brought to an end of the most prolific year for the Caravans. Next year, Clark will begin promoting his new TV show with a road show starring many its performers.

11/5/1965 Fairgrounds Coliseum, Louisville, KY