Ontario Motor Speedway - 1974-04-06 - Ontario, Ca (TV/FLAC)

(TV FLAC)

Various Artists 1974-04-06 California Jam, Ontario Motor Speedway, Ontario, California - 95.5 KLOS-FM & ABC-TV SimulCast (FLAC)

Ontario Motor Speedway, Ontario, California
Saturday April 6, 1974
California Jam Festival

From the original notes :

Lineage : Fisher Receiver > Dokorder Reel-to-Reel @ 3 3/4 ips on Ampex tape (Sony TC-160 w/ no Dolby) (Master Reels & 1st Gen Back-up Cassette) > Phase Linear 1000 > Sony DTC-690 @ 16/48 > Hard Drive (via toslink) > Audacity (editing and conversion to 16-44) > CD Wav > Flac (Level 8)

Broadcast on 95.5 KLOS-FM in Los Angeles and simulcast with ABC TV "In Concert" over 4 weekends.

This is the stereo FM Simulcast.

My tape is a bit worn and my receiver was never the best quality, but it's not real bad quality either.

The antenna was re-positioned during (part 1) Seals and Crofts "Fiddle" song and again during Rare Earth's song "Big Brother".

Trying to get better reception but ending up with some momentary break up.
The first few minutes of tape 2 are slightly worn out but gets better (it was my car tape).

Sourced from my "off the air" master reels (and 1 first generation back-up cassette becuse the reel vanished many years ago).

The splice at 8:35 of part 2 (Emerson, Lake and Palmer) would be the ABC censors removing the line : "Performing on a stool we've a sight to make you drool, seven virgins and a mule, keep it cool. keep it cool". Amazing that in 1974 the same folks at ABC that screwed with the Smothers Brothers 5 years earlier were still at it. Saving us from indecency one sentence at a time.

Many small volume dropouts from worn tapes and the DAT transfer were removed but some sound disturbances remain in places.

Short segments of mono here and there to modify technical issues or just because it was like that.

Fade in/out and splices performed as needed.
No equalization or digital postproduction noise reduction.
(Used the Phase Linear 1000 auto-correlator during transfer to DAT).

The Deep Purple set is available in better quality on a variety of bootlegs (as is the complete Black Sabbath set ).

Did not find any of theses songs available anywhere from any official labels. This is the way the Cal Jam was broadcast in 1974 for those that are curious.


CALIFORNIA JAM Part 1->

01. Introduction to the California Jam including news report on traffic jam

**SEALS AND CROFTS**
02. Fiddles of Thunder
03. A fans prediction (pipe dream) and prelude to the concert

**RARE EARTH**
04. Big Brother

05. Police Chief talks about the audience and crowd interviews with Lost and Found announcements

**EARTH, WIND AND FIRE**
06. Come On Children
07. Crowd interviews and description of stage set up

**The EAGLES** with special guest Jackson Browne
08. Take It Easy
09. Announcer congratulates the crowd and crowd control efforts

**SEALS AND CROFTS**
10. Windflowers

**BLACK OAK ARKANSAS**
11. Introduction
12. Jim Dandy to the Rescue ( w/ Ruby Star)

13. That's really wonderful and the move back request

**BLACK SABBATH**
14. Ozzy speaks about the show
15. Children Of The Grave
16. Ozzy's post show comments

17. Comments about the temperature dropping and introduction to Deep Purple

**DEEP PURPLE**
18. Space Truckin' (extended with explosive ending)

**EMERSON, LAKE AND PALMER** (missed the first note but repeated in part 3)
19. Karn Evil 9 (Third Impression) > Fireworks Finale'
20. Final comments and end of part 1

[62:04]

CALIFORNIA JAM Part 2->

(Part 2 is from a back up car cassette)

introduction to part 2

**DEEP PURPLE**
01. Burn
02. Might Just Take Your Life

introduction

**BLACK SABBATH**
03. War Pigs
04. Paranoid

**DEEP PURPLE**
05. New Band Members Introductions >
06. Smoke On The Water

**RARE EARTH**
07. I Just Want To Celebrate
08. Big Brother

**DEEP PURPLE**
09. Intro (jam or unknown song title) >
10. You Fool No One >
11. Drum Solo >
12. You Fool No One

**BLACK SABBATH**
13. Killing Yourself To Live


CALIFORNIA JAM Part 3->

01. Introduction to part 3

(The Crowd tells what they want to hear and it is....)

**EMERSON, LAKE AND PALMER**
02. Karn Evil # 9 (First Impression part 2) >
03. Drum Solo >
04. Karn Evil # 9 (First Impression part 2) >
05. Keith's Piano Solo

06. Announcement: If you look up into the sky Helicopters are dropping sun visors courtesy of Black Oak Arkansas

**BLACK OAK ARKANSAS**
07. Up

**EMERSON, LAKE AND PALMER**
08. Still... You Turn Me On
09. Lucky Man

10. Interview with a disc jockey at KLOS-FM

**BLACK OAK ARKANSAS**
11. Mutants of the Monster
12. Jim Dandy To The Rescue (w/ Ruby Star)

**EMERSON, LAKE AND PALMER**
13. Toccata (into explosions)

14. Interview with Jack Rose of the Ontario Holiday Inn

**BLACK OAK ARKANSAS**
15. When Electricity Came To Arkansas >
16. Dixie

**EMERSON, LAKE AND PALMER**
17. Piano Interlude (includes bits from "Chasing the Fantastic" and the theme song to "Tiger In A Spotlight")
18. Take A Pebble
19. Karn Evil # 9 (Third Impression) > Fireworks Finale

[66:55]

CALIFORNIA JAM Part 4->

Introduction to part 4

**SEALS AND CROFTS**
01. Diamond Girl
02. The King Of Nothing
03. Ruby Jean and Billy Lee

04. Medical tent update

**The EAGLES** with special guest Jackson Browne
05. James Dean
06. Helicopter pilots and the sky divers segment

**The EAGLES** with special guest Jackson Browne
07. Blackberry Blossom (windy noise from helicopter dropping parachuters over the crowd thoughout most of song)
08. Midnight Flyer (spliced at 18:38)

**SEALS AND CROFTS**
09. Hummingbird
10. Unborn Child

**EARTH, WIND AND FIRE**
11. Time Is On Your Side
12. Keep Your Head To The Sky

**SEALS AND CROFTS**
13. Ridin' Thumb
14. Standing On A Mountain Top

**The EAGLES** with special guest Jackson Browne
15. Already Gone

**SEALS AND CROFTS**
(The end of) Diamond Girl (fade into)
16. Wisdom
17. High On The Mountain

[62:49]


AND THAT WAS IT FOR THE CALIFORNIA JAM BROADCAST WHAT A DAY.

This certainly brought back some memories for me. Here we go. Don't remember who got it started but a group of about 10 of us went to this show. We took off the day before and spent the night sleeping in cold cars. Woke up bright and early and got in that long line soon after. Caught sneaking in some alcohol so we chugged our little pints of 151 rum at the gate.

Starting off with a good buzz at 9:00 am.

We sat about 300 feet from the stage (and that was still the front!). It was a stock car racecourse and the back of the crowd was about a mile away. The sound was fantastic with big speaker towers at the stage with another set maybe 500 feet back and then another set even further back. We were in the right spot for the quadraphonic sound system.

The opening band was Rare Earth and then it was Earth Wind and Fire next.
There was some brown mescaline going around and In traditional rock festival form everything became very mellow after that. The Eagles came on and Jackson Browne was sitting in with them. Jackson was a favorite of ours in those days and we really enjoyed the Eagles set.

Seals and Crofts had a very well rehearsed folk jazz sound and I was impressed.
Black Oak Arkansas were good and weird as you would expect.. but that bass... mmmmmm (feeling very mellow now).

Then came a crowd favorite who were flown over from England just for this performance.

Listened to Black Sabbath laying back with my eyes closed and it felt like cool waves of sound rolling over me in the hot afternoon sunshine. It was so hot the venue was passing out those gallon plastic milk containers full of water which you took back into the crowd to share with your friends. Sometime during the afternoon we saw something way up front arc across the crowd. Then another and another and another 20 more and then a wave of a 1000 more and that wave was coming towards us. Next thing you knew it was raining 10,000 of these plastic milk jugs full of water. Everyone really needed that as it was a brutal hot day and the "rain" felt good (just don't get hit on the head!)

It came time for Deep Purple and the crowd became very excited. The Live in Japan album was very popular around this time. There was no doubt about it that Deep Purple were at the top of their show. It was a long wait for the sun to set as that giant yellow ball was blinding the crowd.

Deep Purple finaly came on stage just as the sun started going down. I can still see Ritchie Blackmore blazing away on his guitar with a red sky sunset behind him. At one point there were white flash bombs exploding on stage completely blinding everyone.

Now as the day has gone and night has come it was time for THE MAIN SHOW.
My friend Mark and I had just seen ELP a few months previous at the Anaheim Convention Center. So everyone was expecting a mind blower and that was exactly what everyone got.

Brain Salad Surgery weirdness sandwiched between beautiful piano playing and with that incredible drum kit going off behind it all. Greg Lake sitting down with an acoustic guitar to play his set and slow everything down for a bit.

Then it was back to the crazy antics as Keith Emerson paced the stage shooting sparks out of his mobile keyboard. Carl Palmer keeping the beat straight while a grand piano goes up in the air turning over and over with Keith strapped in and somehow playing uninterrupted. Then it was back on the ground as Karn Evil #9 makes full use of that quadraphonic sound system building up to a big closer.

As those final notes swirl in faster and faster circles about our heads fireworks start exploding around the racecourse and those afternoon visions were stirred back to life.

What a day and what a way to close out my first and only big rock festival.
.. now we have to drive home and I am glad that I am a passenger.

These audiotapes were well played for some months at least and show signs of wear. The original reel of tape 2 disappeared and all I had left was my car copy on a cassette. No thoughts back then of the possibility of sharing this with others years later.

Hope this trip in the way back machine was enjoyable for you. It was very interesting to hear all of this again. Amazing that I was there and I can still remember some of it. A couple cells left undamaged by the 1970's.
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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Found these set lists while researching the California Jam Concert

**Black Sabbath set:

Tomorrow's Dream
Sweet Leaf
Killing Yourself To Live
War Pigs
Snowblind
Sabbra Cadabra
Supernaut Part 1 (Improvisation)
Supernaut Part II(Bill Ward's Drum Solo)
Supernaut Part 3
Iron Man
Guitar Solo(w/Orchid, Sabbra Cadabra[reprise])
Paranoid
Embryo/Children Of The Grave


**Deep Purple set:

Burn
Might Just Take Your Life
Mistreated
Smoke On The Water
You Fool No One
Space Truckin'

**Emerson Lake and Palmer set:

Karn Evil 9 First Impression Part 2
Piano Solo
Still... You Turn Me On
Lucky Man
Toccata
Jam (incl. theme of Tiger In A Spotlight)
Take A Pebble
Karn Evil 9 Third Impression
Pictures At An Exhibition

**Black Oak Arkansas set:

Up
Mutants Of The Monster
Jim Dandy
Dixie