Allman Brothers Band Play for 600,000 at Watkins Glen
On this day 1973
Welcome back to Long Live the ABB: Conversations from the Crossroads of Southern Music, History, and Culture.
Today is the 50th anniversary of the 1973 Summer Jam at Watkins Glen, NY, most commonly called Watkins Glen.
Though the promoters sold in excess of 150,000 tickets at $10, more than 600,000 people attended. Yes, like Woodstock, a significant amount of attendees did so for free.
The event is far less legendary but equally as trouble-free as Woodstock, held four years earlier in Bethel Woods, NY. The Allman Brothers headlined the event, on a bill that included the other two pillars of American rock music at the time: the Grateful Dead and the Band.
I’ve been posting about Watkins Glen Day all day on social media. Here are some of the quotes I shared:
GREGG ALLMAN
"A show like Watkins Glen was uncomfortable, because you know that you’re getting the show across to this many people, but you still got two times that many behind them. You could finish a song, take your guitar off, put it in the case, and latch it up before the last guy heard the last note. Sound ain’t all that fast, not compared to light.
It’s hard to get any kind of coziness, any kind of feel with the audience. I guess there’s something about that many people seeing you all at once that’s real nice, but it’s just too much. You’re just like a little squeak in the middle of a bomb going off. But it was interesting, and it was a pretty fun day....
And of course, Uncle Bill was there, which cured everything. It was exciting to be there and see it—and to be able to make ’em stand up, now that was something else."1
BILL KREUTZMANN, GRATEFUL DEAD
"The memory that I’m most fond of and hold most dear from that whole weekend was jamming backstage with Jaimoe, one of the Allman’s drummers. We were just sitting in the dressing room, banging out rhythms, and that was a lot of fun for me.
Jaimoe backed Otis Redding and Sam & Dave before becoming a founding member of the Allman Brothers, where he remains to this day. He’s a soulful drummer and just an incredible guy who is impossible not to like."
ROBBIE ROBERTSON, THE BAND, locals who didn't really want the gig (speaking in 1974):
“We didn’t want to play Watkins Glen at all. We were in a mood; we thought tours, those things, it’s only the money, that’s the only reason that you do it. But we were talked into it. You know the Grateful Dead, the Allman Brothers, really terrific people, and it was just one of those ‘Oh, come on . . . it’s just up the road. You don’t have to really go out of your way.’ You know. ‘Don’t be a spoil sport.’ That’s what happened.”
The Allman Brothers Band and Festivals
The Allman Brothers Band had been regulars on festival circuits from nearly the beginning. They didn’t play Woodstock. They were in NYC recording their debut album and I believe they made the journey partway before giving up because of the traffic.
They played the Winter’s End Festival in Bithlo, Florida2, outside of Orlando. The opened and closed the 2nd Atlanta Pop Festival July 3-5, 1970 and were a headliner at Love Valley, North Carolina July 17-19.
Then, festivals pretty much stopped for a couple of years. Politicians, objecting to the sex and drugs that came with the rock & roll, passed laws against them. Promoters had a hard time making money anyway, with all the gate-crashers.
The ABB was scheduled to play the 1971 Newport Jazz Festival, part of an attempt by organizers to add contemporary sounds to the bill. Thousands of youth stormed the gates, demanding free admission like at Woodstock, Atlanta Pop, and Love Valley. Organizers cancelled the festival two days early, meaning the ABB did not play.3
Mar y Sol 1972
The group (sans Duane) also played the 1972 Mar y Sol Festival Pop, April 1-3. Held 30 miles west of San Juan, Puerto Rico. It was the first rock festival held in the Caribbean. Atlanta-based Alex Cooley promoted the show, which included a killer lineup but was plagued by logistical problems for the estimated 35,000 attendees.4
1973 Summer Jam at Watkins Glen
Alan Paul and I talked about Watkins Glen a bit on the debut episode of Long Live the ABB in Conversation.
His new book, Brothers and Sisters, covers it extensively.
Watkins Glen is a really cool story. The three bands were all at the top of their games, and the ABB and Dead were in a short-lived, fruitful collaboration period.
To quell the growing crowds, each group played a live sound check on Friday (the Dead played two sets) and then played full sets on Saturday 7/28.
The Dead opened the show on Saturday, followed by the Band.
The ABB closed with a two-set show, that includes this gorgeous version of “Come & Go Blues” from the Wipe the Windows live album5 and a 12-minute “Mountain Jam” featuring Jerry Garcia and Bob Weir.
And while the Allman Brothers headlined the show and were one of the biggest bands in the country at the time, their entire set was not officially recorded (though bootlegs do exist6). It’s a damn shame.
The Band’s album Live at Watkins Glen is a fraud—not recorded at Watkins Glen (it may not even be live).7 The Dead have released portions of their Friday night soundcheck and bootlegs circulate of their full sets.8
A New (to Me) Story about Watkins Glen
Here’s something picked up on Twitter (of all places, shhhh! don’t tell Musk I’m costing him money AND not subjecting myself to his army of trolls)9…
Chuck Leavell was all of 21 and an Allman Brother for less than a year when he played Watkins Glen.
“Garcia knew I was the new guy in the Allmans. He went out of his way to come over and make me feel welcome. He asked me if I knew 'Wake Up, Little Suzie” and before I could reply, we were running through it together.
The room stopped chatting and everyone quietly turned their attention on us. It was the first time I felt the attention that someone like Garcia commanded. I looked around and there was Butch Trucks, laughing.
He said, 'Welcome to the big time, rookie.'”
🍄 LONG LIVE THE ALLMAN BROTHERS BAND 🍄
Final thoughts
I head to the Roots, Rock, Revival camp that Butch Trucks started a few years back. It’s long been on my radar and I appreciate my friend (and subscriber)
for the encouragement. It’s an example of that #mushroommagic for me that this occurs in upstate New York the week after this Watkins Glen anniversary. You can’t make this shit up if you tried.10Thanks for reading. Happy Watkins Glen Day!
From My Cross to Bear.
Shout out to Biggie, the Townstar Sheriff.
Here’s a great video about the ABB’s attempt to play Newport: festival organizer (and ABB fan) George Wein talking with Derek Trucks and Susan Tedeschi.
The Dreams box set from 1989 included “Ain’t Wastin’ Time No More” from Mar y Sol, the first 5-man band track I ever heard. There was a lot of power in that lineup, however pained they all were.
Ya tu sabes.
It says a lot to me that these 3 bands together were the ones of all of the wonderful US, UK and Canadian rock bands of that period that attracted an audience this large. They were all "concert" bands, not show bands. It was all about the art of the music...and at the core of their art was mostly American Roots music in it's varied forms...with their own interpretations and spins,,,,and amplified more widely than any concert before them.
To be able to pull this size show off and have the folks in the "cheap seats" able to hear & feel this music was a massive technical achievement...and much of that credit goes to the Deads crew, McIntosh amps, JBL speakers and Bill Grahams experience.
I look forward to the Watkins Glen documentary that's in production.
2 nights ago at a little bar in Maryland on a very hot, swampy night I got to experience a very young band, average age 17 play about a dozen songs from Watkins Glen. They were led and mentored by Butch Trucks daughter Melody who is 51. Her mom would not let her go to Watkins Glen with her dad. There were 2-3 people in the audience of 50 folks who had been at Watkins Glen...and more than a few more wearing Allman & Dead t-shirts.
They all REALLY enjoyed this concert...there was lots of applause and "oh yeas" when these young men played something cool. It was a fun night for me and I talked with the 16 year old keyboard players dad during the break. The parents are not musicians...but played a lot of this music on their stereo as their son grew up. He started playing at age 4. One of the older folks at the show said to me after the gig that "the music was in good hands" and that made him happy. He was alittle surprised that they all played it so well.
On Monday those young players will be at Roots Rock Revival, the music camp started by Butch Trucks 10 years ago to mentor folks in this music and how to be an artist. This band is Melody's extension of Butch's dream & vision. It appears that the Trucks family has more musical DNA than most.
Bob I'll see you there.