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Post by AGD on Mar 23, 2024 3:33:52 GMT -5
Currently taking a head-first dive into this (because, well... it's what I do) and coming up with more questions than answers. May need the hive mind now and then. Initial impressions: Badman may very well have made up some of his dates and venues... I think Murry's take may be the most reliable... currently only one date can be independently verified (by two sources!).
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Post by AGD on Mar 23, 2024 10:50:05 GMT -5
So, these are the dates and venues Badman gives in his 2004 book. The only 100% verified date is in bold:
17 - Earl Warren Show Grounds, Santa Barbara CA [could well be the 24th]
20 - Civic Auditorium, Bakersfield CA
22 - Exhibition Hall, Fresno CA
27 - Surf Fair, Civic Auditorium, Santa Monica CA
28 - Surf Fair, Civic Auditorium, Santa Monica CA
28 - County Fairgrounds, Merced CA
30 - Gold Rush Festival Auditorium, Stockton CA
31 - Santa Cruz CA
The original sources are as follows:
1962 poster for the Surf Fair
Murry Wilson in the 1971 Tom Nolan Rolling Stone two parter...
Keith Badman in his 2004 book The Beach Boys: the definitive* diary of America's greatest band on stage and in the studio
David Marks in his 2007 biography The Lost Beach Boy.
[* not really... actually, in some cases, not at all]
It's further worth noting that despite their dedicated researches, neither Ian Rusten nor Jim Murphy could verify any other of the dates above.
I've done a bit of basic googling on these venues: the Bakersfield CA was completed November 1962, first event being the 20th of that month. Fresno is very problematic, as I cannot find any trace of there ever being an Exhibition Hall there. There was, and still is, an Exhibit Hall, but that wasn't completed until October 1966. Likewise, as far as I can see there has never been a Gold Rush Festival Auditorium in Stockton. There has been a Civic Auditorium since the mid 1920, however.
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Post by AGD on Mar 23, 2024 13:34:24 GMT -5
Here's how Murry recalled that first proper tour in 1971 [emphasis mine] between Christmas Eve:
"I was told by a young man... at the William Morris Agency that The Beach Boys would never make more money than Ruby & The Romantics, who were grossing $3500 for seven days a week. This was after my sons' first double sided hit on Capitol. I got so mad. It was December 17th. I called from my home to key places and we worked between Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve. We grossed $25,684 for five nights, five concerts."
The dates and the number of gigs fits perfectly if, as is strongly suspected, the Santa Barbara gig was indeed the 24th and not the 17th - which date is in any case invalidated by Murry's evening of phone calls. How's this for a revised schedule?
24 - Earl Warren Show Grounds, Santa Barbara CA [Mon]
27 - Surf Fair, Civic Auditorium, Santa Monica CA [Thu]
28 - Surf Fair, Civic Auditorium, Santa Monica CA [Fri]
28 - County Fairgrounds, Merced CA [Fri]
30 - Gold Rush Festival Auditorium, Stockton CA [Sun]
31 - Santa Cruz CA [Mon]
The show on the 27th almost certainly never happened: the actual poster states that the band were appearing on the Friday only (the 28th) and a later article in the local press also mentions them playing only Friday. One fly in this ointment is that the distance by road from Santa Monica to Merced was something like 275 miles. Thoughts, anyone?
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Post by karmafrog on Mar 23, 2024 13:42:24 GMT -5
Here's how Murry recalled that first proper tour in 1971 [emphasis mine] between Christmas Eve: "I was told by a young man... at the William Morris Agency that The Beach Boys would never make more money than Ruby & The Romantics, who were grossing $3500 for seven days a week. This was after my sons' first double sided hit on Capitol. I got so mad. It was December 17th. I called from my home to key places and we worked between Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve. We grossed $25,684 for five nights, five concerts." The dates and the number of gigs fits perfectly if, as is strongly suspected, the Santa Barbara gig was indeed the 24th and not the 17th - which date is in any case invalidated by Murry's evening of phone calls. How's this for a revised schedule? 24 - Earl Warren Show Grounds, Santa Barbara CA [Mon] 27 - Surf Fair, Civic Auditorium, Santa Monica CA [Thu]28 - Surf Fair, Civic Auditorium, Santa Monica CA [Fri] 28 - County Fairgrounds, Merced CA [Fri] 30 - Gold Rush Festival Auditorium, Stockton CA [Sun] 31 - Santa Cruz CA [Mon] The show on the 27th almost certainly never happened: the actual poster states that the band were appearing on the Friday only (the 28th) and a later article in the local press also mentions them playing only Friday. One fly in this ointment is that the distance by road from Santa Monica to Merced was something like 275 miles. Thoughts, anyone? I have one: there does seem to have been a *Gold Rush Festival* around Stockton held at least once, in '69. It's possible (though unlikely if one goes by the wikipedia page for same) this was an annual event and the "auditorium" was just wherever they gathered people for the event. Stockton is "Gold Rush" country (central California) so that part tracks. |
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Post by John Manning on Mar 23, 2024 14:06:49 GMT -5
One fly in this ointment is that the distance by road from Santa Monica to Merced was something like 275 miles. Thoughts, anyone? Internet states it’s a little over a 4-hour drive today. Even if you double that for ‘62, eight/nine hours should surely have been feasible? |
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Post by AGD on Mar 23, 2024 14:12:00 GMT -5
Here's how Murry recalled that first proper tour in 1971 [emphasis mine] between Christmas Eve: "I was told by a young man... at the William Morris Agency that The Beach Boys would never make more money than Ruby & The Romantics, who were grossing $3500 for seven days a week. This was after my sons' first double sided hit on Capitol. I got so mad. It was December 17th. I called from my home to key places and we worked between Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve. We grossed $25,684 for five nights, five concerts." The dates and the number of gigs fits perfectly if, as is strongly suspected, the Santa Barbara gig was indeed the 24th and not the 17th - which date is in any case invalidated by Murry's evening of phone calls. How's this for a revised schedule? 24 - Earl Warren Show Grounds, Santa Barbara CA [Mon] 27 - Surf Fair, Civic Auditorium, Santa Monica CA [Thu]28 - Surf Fair, Civic Auditorium, Santa Monica CA [Fri] 28 - County Fairgrounds, Merced CA [Fri] 30 - Gold Rush Festival Auditorium, Stockton CA [Sun] 31 - Santa Cruz CA [Mon] The show on the 27th almost certainly never happened: the actual poster states that the band were appearing on the Friday only (the 28th) and a later article in the local press also mentions them playing only Friday. One fly in this ointment is that the distance by road from Santa Monica to Merced was something like 275 miles. Thoughts, anyone? I have one: there does seem to have been a *Gold Rush Festival* around Stockton held at least once, in '69. It's possible (though unlikely if one goes by the wikipedia page for same) this was an annual event and the "auditorium" was just wherever they gathered people for the event. Stockton is "Gold Rush" country (central California) so that part tracks. I checked that out too - just the once, in 1969 and it was some distance from Stockton. I'm beginning to form a theory, and venues being invented is part thereof. Don't forget, Badman has form in this regard, at least as regards our band. |
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Post by AGD on Mar 25, 2024 18:21:30 GMT -5
Interesting: got an email back from what the Bakersfield Civic Auditorium has become... and they have no record of the band playing there before October 1964. In fact, they did, in April the previous year. Hm.
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Post by ian on Mar 27, 2024 2:52:42 GMT -5
Don’t expect places to have great records. I have found that 9 out of ten times paper work was long gone and their information is from bellagio or perhaps Badman or my book!
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Post by AGD on Mar 31, 2024 5:34:54 GMT -5
Don’t expect places to have great records. I have found that 9 out of ten times paper work was long gone and their information is from bellagio or perhaps Badman or my book! Exactly so. Now, what David (via the excellent Jon Stebbins book) remembers. I've somewhat paraphrased this: "That December The Beach Boys performed... at the grand opening of the new Cinnamon Cinder nightclub in Long Beach [the 6th]. [Then] the band embarked on their first extended tour of California. With dates booked in Santa Barbara, Bakersfield, Fresno, San Jose, Merced, Stockton and Santa Cruz, the band were away from LA for over two weeks... in Mike Love's Volkswagon and Audree's Ford Falcon wagon... Murry was missing when the tour reached its conclusion in Santa Cruz, having returned to LA the night before... Upon returning to Southern California, The Beach Boys celebrated their first Christmas as Capitol recording stars. On the 27th the group performed at a "Surf Fair" held at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium." Ron Swallow, Carl's best friend, was apparently also along for the ride, and witnessed a ruckus in Santa Cruz between the band - specifically, Dennis - and some local guys which resulted him being required to return at a later date only for the judge to throw the case out. Note that while the list of venues is almost exactly the same as Badman's (plus San Jose, minus Santa Monica), the tour is specifically stated to have taken place before Christmas, and that Murry was with them, which was pretty much a given. That's seven people and the band gear in two vehicles: not impossible but surely none too comfortable. More problematic is being away for two weeks and playing just seven dates. Further, Dennis drummed on a Four Speeds session in LA on the 12th, so unless he returned to LA fo that, the tour couldn't have been two weeks prior to Christmas. Without a functioning DeLorean equipped with a flux capacitor, we'll almost certainly never know what actually happened, but my leaning is towards Murry being the more reliable. For one thing he was talking less than nine years after the event, and the detailed gross he gave suggests he'd dug out some documentation, plus the five nights ties in neatly with a post Christmas tour. So, I'm going to amend 10452 to this: 24 - Earl Warren Show Grounds, Santa Barbara CA [Mon] 28 - Surf Fair, Civic Auditorium, Santa Monica CA [Fri] 28 - County Fairgrounds, Merced CA [Fri] 30 - Gold Rush Festival Auditorium, Stockton CA [Sun] 31 - Santa Cruz CA [Mon] ... with the caveat in the footnotes that excepting the 28th none of the dates or venues are independently confirmed. Oh to get access to Murry's archive, if it still exists. Thoughts, plaudits and/or brickbats to the usual address. |
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Post by AGD on Mar 31, 2024 6:55:15 GMT -5
Murry's very precise figure of $25,684 gross for five shows is interesting, and questionable. Given that the general admission for BB gigs of this era seems to be between $1 and $1.50, that would represent sales of 17,120 tickets at the higher value, or an average of 3,424 per venue (and of course more at the lower figure). With precisely three singles to their name, only one of which charted Top 40, could they draw that many to a show hundreds of miles away from their home? Yup, I'm arguing myself out of my preferred hypothesis. Did they play second on the bill to local favourites, or were supported by them?
And yes, as has been pointed out to me, I'm applying logic to a Beach Boys context, and that's something the band have never had a good relationship with.
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