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, and Lenny Stogel. Pacific Presentations, a LA based concert company headed by Sepp Donahower and Gary Perkins, coordinated the event, booked all the talent, and ran the advertising. It attracted 200,000 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 festivals, 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.
Acts that performed at the festival in order of appearance:
Rare Earth
Earth, Wind & Fire
Eagles
Seals and Crofts
Black Oak Arkansas
Black Sabbath
Deep Purple
Emerson, Lake & Palmer
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. 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.
Emerson, Lake & Palmer were top of the bill for the California Jam Festival. 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 Emerson playing a grand piano spinning end-over-end 50 feet above ground level was taken. According to Keith Emerson's autobiography Oscar Peterson saw the ELP performance at California Jam on television and was so impressed he telephoned Count Basie to watch.
Unlike other rock festivals such as Woodstock, 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 simulcasting.
Several performances from the show were eventually released on CD and video, both in bootleg and authorized form. Authorized releases include:
California Jamming, CD of Deep Purple's performance (also released under alternate titles)
Live in California 74, DVD of Deep Purple's performance
Beyond the Beginning, Emerson, Lake & Palmer DVD including 44 minutes of their California Jam performance.
Rare Earth - Hey Big Brother
Eagles - Already Gone @ California Jam
Seals and Croft - Summer Breeze
Earth Wind & Fire - EVIL
Black Oak Arkansas - Jim Dandy
Black Sabbath - Children of the Grave
Deep Purple - Burn (California Jam 1974)
Emerson, Lake & Palmer - Karn Evil 9
Sorry, couldn't find videos of a couple of the bands recorded at the concert so I found songs of the era, ones which they would have played. I know a few flks here attended this awsome show, if you were there tells your stories..........
