", From dassani: "I was there Could not have been better! Her harmonies with Eddie and Jimbo were legendary, and thus the group found its new name. (Photo courtesy of the Brennan family). "I'm also a little partial to Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard, Jerry Reed, Johnny Paycheck, when they played at Old York Farms in the late '90s," said Jeremy Don McCollough. Its effortless., Even after all these years, agreed Jones. And they accepted it, but we did get the total amount of the gate that came in. Men. The station is locally owned and operated by Bluewater Broadcasting Company, LLC. The band also played Birmingham in May 1977, according to this story by Madison Underwood. The Young Rascals. The entire show was magic, beginning with The Stranger and of course included many of the unknown Joel early songs. Brennan bid farewell to concert promotion in 1973 --a necessary business decision, he says -- and for Birmingham music lovers, it was the end of an era. Moody remembers the group mysteriously disappeared after one show and had to be retrieved to play their second gig (lead singer Peter Noone was known to enjoy a party.). Montgomery's home for country music favorites like Tim McGraw, Blake Shelton, Alan Jackson, George Strait, Carrie Underwood, Miranda Lambert . The Carpenters. Montgomery, Alabama, United States: Apr 15, 2016 keith sweat / Juvenile / Morris Day & The Time / Cherelle: . Its amazing the life we got to live.. Their big prize was three VOX . The station's transmitter is located in the town of Grady, Alabama. Moody remembers Roy Orbison being one of the nicer, more polite performers, and the Grass Roots, Paul Revere and Buckinghams being easy to work with. The 8:30 p.m. show -- which happened in the windy aftermath of Hurricane Dora-- came courtesy of WAPE-AM, a radio station owned by the Brennan family. Big Bam All-Star Spring Show Setlists Apr 8 1967 Date Saturday, April 8, 1967 Venue Garrett Coliseum, Montgomery, AL, USA Report festival So far there are setlists of 9 gigs. By the time they came to get us we were pretty shozzeled.. By the time we got to the steps of the BJCC a guy had a shoebox full of tickets that he was trying to sell for a buck each. Neither Tommy Shaw nor Beth Nielsen Chapman will be on hand due to their schedules. Wed ask them, Who would you like to see? Then wed select artists for the shows from this listener input.. So many great City Stages performances: Chuck Berry (backed my some of Birmingham's finest), James Brown, Johnny Cash (right after Randy Newman! Other notable former personalities included Bill J. Moody, Paul Simpkins, Mark Robbins, Gene Hocutt and Joe Cook. "Cyril's idea was, 'Tell them to sing, just a little bit, and make sure that we get the right one.' But the moment was indelible for one of his daughters, Debbie Brennan Bartoletti. Read reviews from world's largest community for readers. He must have played an hour and 20 minutes or more. Sweet Young Uns "Little Feat at Boutwell mid 70s. In most cases, the concertswere multi-act affairs, featuring the hottest names the radio stations could secure. I said, 'Well, this is Roy's show. But Lewis went over his allotted time. ", From Will-I: "Bruce Springsteen in Auburn in 1975. Canned Heat. "Ringo had a riser above the stage, and of course this is all outdoors, and the winds were blowing up to 70 miles an hour," Brennan says. I never chased the stars around to hotels or anything. Here, then, is a readers' choice list of 31 awesome concerts in Alabama, culled from email, Facebook and comments on the original post. We put on a heck of a show, said Grier. Brother Cyril Brennan, 84, was alternately chief engineer, manager, program director and music director at WBAM and also involved in lining up talent. ", From shapeshiftinhmojo: "The Allman Brothers played at the National Guard Armory as both the Almond Joys and as the Allman Brothers in the 1960's as well as Tuscaloosa in the seventies when they were huge. Hes been a school principal and now sells wholesale art, although business has been suffering due to the economy. At the time, though, Brennan was simply doing his job, helping the family's radio stations to connect with listeners in a vivid, concrete way. "Ringo said, 'I'm not getting up there unless you build me a bannister around this thing.' They played at YMCAs, American Legion halls, private parties, and dances all over south Alabama, Panama City, Savannah, and Greenville, Miss. 0. blues show montgomery, al 2021. DMX. Brennan, who understands the pull of nostalgia, says he's heard similar sentiments from many Birmingham folkswho came of age at the Shower of Stars. He wants to go on late in the show.' Lindley. Tickets to these shows were typically $3 to $4. Though theyve had other jobs over the years, neither Jones nor Beavers have stopped playing music. A buddy and I went down hoping for a miracle and some guy offered us two tickets for $10 bucks each which we gladly paid. Go to the Archives . The Rockin' Rebellions won top honors - beating out 67 other bands from throughout Alabama. pigella miraculous ladybug power. A close second would be Yes at the Concert Hall in 2013. Anotherbrother, Bill Brennan, was the undisputed chief of the Jacksonville station, and had houses in Montgomery and Jacksonville. Ticket prices were $2 for shows in the early 1960s, gradually increasing to a top price of $5.50, a pittance by todays standards. "We'd camp out at the door, on the steps and wait. Big Bam Show . Originally licensed in 1953 as WBAM, the station broadcast contemporary and country music before turning to sports talk under the WMSP callsign in 1995. ", From cj75: "Grateful Dead, 5/17/77 in Tuscaloosa. Johnny Carson wanted him on The Tonight Show.Music fans were clamoring for the single and album that featured this emotion-filled song about a man in love with his wife, who planted a . 1973(?). You can either do that, or you will not have a place to change. "We started in 1947, and if you think about it, you didn't have very much television in those days," Brennan says in a recent interview. If you were a teenager in south-central Alabama in the 1960s, chances are you danced the jerk, flirted with that cute boy, or made out in the corner of the high school gym to the music of a live band of local erstwhile musicians. "Play It All Night Long." Because it was so big, we ran on stage as soon as we were introduced, grabbed our instruments and started playing before the applause died down. Performers would play to more than 10,000 at Garrett Coliseum in Montgomery Friday night (for Tommy James in 1967 it just seemed like 30,000), then pack-up and play three shows in Birmingham on Saturday. The WVOK Shower of Stars was a series of concerts sponsored by WVOK-AM at the Birmingham Armory and later at Birmingham's Municipal Auditorium.Program director Dan Brennan organized the shows, which gained national notice.. Concerts. Pitiful (Otis Redding) sound so much better with real horns.. Edgar Winter Group with the Frankenstein tour," said Rick Allen. He was replaced by Johnny Townsend from Tuscaloosa, who was living with Duane and Gregg Allman in LA. Despite her young age -- she was 7 that year -- Bartoletti felt another emotion at the Gator Bowl: extreme pride. Iron Butterfly. Can you say Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?". $14 million dollar house maine; Cosmic Slop was classic, turned that mother out. The author recalls with fondness the casual neighborliness that existed within his community, the freedom that children enjoyed to roam and play, and the slower pace of life that prevailed. Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site. With the help of Bill Moody and Cyril Brennan at WBAM, their music was played on the 100,000-watt radio station, helping the group built a following as an R&B band. In Brennan's view, that's a satisfying legacy. The Brennan familysold itsstake in AM radio a few years later,and hemoved on to WRKK-FM, an album-rock station known as K-99. "Lynyrd Skynyrd, after Montrose featuring Sammy Hagar July 4th, 1975 at Rickwood Field," said Bamabadger62. ", From Denniswingo: "The Grateful Dead in 1978 at the Boutwell Auditorium. Bobby Goldsboro was having a nice run of hits in the mid-'60s when suddenly, with the release of a song called "Honey" in 1968, he became a major star. In the spring of 1968, we played the Big Bam Spring show in Montgomery and were seen by a producer from Hollywood named Bob Hinkle. But with two hotshot rock bandson the bill at Legion Field, the twangier acts faced a tougher crowd and some of the musicians felt like underdogs. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Advance Local. Big BAM Shows of the late 1960s and early 1970s featured all the biggest artists of the day, including Paul Revere and the Raiders, Lou Christie, Iron Butterfly, The Carpenters, The Monkees (as a group and individually), Tommy Joyce and Bobby Heart, The Grass Roots, and many more. It made me feel good in a way, he said. He was a very special guy. Readers of AL.com have plenty of ideas. We had a fabulous time.. Ticket prices were never more expensive than $4.00. The Big BAM Shows. The Lovin' Spoonful. ", From Cobb: "Buckingham Nicks in Morgan Auditorium Tuscaloosa Alabama Fall 1973.". The Fab Four wouldnt play to segregated audiences, and at that time this was the case in Alabama. ", From TTownTony: "You cannot even imagine the concerts played in Tuscaloosa before the BJCC was built. "(Listeners) would tell us what they liked and didn't like. And the Brennans knew how to put on a show.. Brennan, now 86, introduced the Beatles at the Gator Bowlin Jacksonville, Fla., when the Fab Four played there on Sept. 11, 1964. ", Buy newspaper front pages, posters and more. Whitwam, now in his 47th year playing music, is pleased with the makeup of their current audiences. Dupree served with the Army in Vietnam, worked as an engineer in Muscle Shoals, and has been an electrical engineer for the Alabama Legislature for 27 years. truly historic happening. "It was cold outside, show was to begin at 6 but began at 9; coeds from T-town waited for 2nd show which was to begin at 9 but began at about 2 next morning, had to get permission to stay in those days and freeze outside at Auburn University Coliseum. Jerry Lee Lewis, the Brennans said. The Quad show was FREE! And the Shower of Stars concerts still linger in localmemory. Four dates per year were standard -- in winter, spring, summer and fall -- and total attendance topped out at 15,000 people for each three-show stint in Birmingham. ", "I'm also inclined to mention 1982 at Boutwell when the Blizzard of Ozz played; Randy Rhoades' third to last appearance before his tragic death," said GmanGent. Several readers made fond mention of multi-act shows presented by WBAM-AM, a sister station to Birmingham's WVOK-AM, during the 1960s and early '70s. HOW COME PAUL GODDARD PUSHES HIS GLASSES UP THE BRIDGE OF HIS NOSE? He founded his own company, Brennan Video Productions, in 1982and he continues to work there, transferring VHS tapes, old films and other retro footage to DVDs. ", "Leo Kottke, Foster Auditorium, UA campus, about 1974," said 57939names. YouTubes privacy policy is available here and YouTubes terms of service is available here. He pulls this at every one of our shows. Now sales manager for a Dothan radio station, Moody fondly remembers working as a teenager at a 1959 WBAM concert featuring singer Connie Francis. Readers shared fond memories of June Jam, the annual music festival that ran 1982-1997. This might have swelled a lesser man's head, but for Brennan, it was all about connecting with the listeners. Once solo and once with a band. nellson nutraceutical revenue; arlington catholic basketball roster; jack cawood and suzy hunt; lawn vacuum for acorns rental. 100 feet later someone offered us tickets at face value. "Tuscaloosa Memorial Coliseum 1972," said Randy Palmer. WBAM-FM /98.9 (" Bama Country 98.9 ") is a country music formatted radio station that serves the Montgomery Metropolitan Area, broadcasting on the FM band at a frequency of 98.9 MHz and licensed to Montgomery, Alabama. Johnny Cash. When Cher and Sonny first met in 1963, she was 16, while he was 27 and married (he and his first wife were separated). It wasnt concerts where you played and 500 people sat down and listened to you. Roy Orbis. Big Bam Show. How many people have been able to say this at a concert, facing a roaring crowd? "It was rewarding, because people seemed to respond to some of the things I was doing. We were the opening act and it was the biggest crowd we had ever played before, nearly 30,000 people. The Rogues recorded the 45 in February of 1966, for MBM Records, a Birmingham, Alabama label that goes back to the early '60s. THE PROMOTIONAL POSTER OF THE WBAM, BIG BAM WINTER SPECTACULAR, SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 1967! ", From bamamaam: "What about the lynyrd skynyrd concert at rickwood field in the '70's.? This book takes a thought-provoking, even-handed look at those days from the perspective of a typical white kid growing up in Montgomery during that . He showed up about five minutes before his show was to go on. TheRolling Stones were closing the gap quickly, though, with a tougher, bluesier songbook that included "The Last Time," "Play With Fire" and "Time Is On My Side."
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