Capricorn Barbeque & Summer Games, August 1976

[This maybe should be a Milledge Circle (Athens) post, but the groundwork was laid during Seal Place days.]

It was the best birthday I ever had. I pretended the party was mine. It was actually the Capricorn Records Annual Barbeque & Summer Games, a company tradition held just outside Macon at Lakeside Park. In 1976 the event happened to fall on my birthday. I was in my last year at UGA in Athens, majoring in graphic design, and had been trying to settle on a senior thesis/project. My attempt to affiliate the project with Capricorn did not pan out, but art director Keith Crossley remained supportive and encouraging, and kindly sent me an invitation to the label's annual party.

Invitation, 5th Annual Capricorn Barbeque & Summer Games,
Lakeside Park, Macon GA, August 19, 1976

I was allowed to bring two guests. Cousin Hal agreed to drive, and our friend Dave came along, too. (They were both active Atlanta musicians and veterans of several local bands.) It was in the pipeline that then-Presidential candidate Jimmy Carter would be in attendance. Capricorn founder Phil Walden was a key Carter supporter, and they had become good friends. Cousin Hal had a 1960-something black Cadillac Fleetwood land-yacht at the time. We secured small, flapping American flags at each front quarter panel in an effort to make as Presidential an entry as possible. Many heads did turn as we pulled into the parking area.

It was a beautiful day, with a comfortable breeze off the lake and cool shade under the trees despite being in the dog days of August. Trails lead through the park past random open bars scattered along the paths. The barbeque feast was laid out buffet-style in the covered pavilion along the water's edge. Picnic tables were in another pavilion a short walk from there. That's where we ran into Andy Warhol and his business manager Fred Hughes. We had linked up with my friend Mike Duke and his Wet Willie bandmate Ricky Hirsch by that time. The photo below predates the term "photobomb," but qualifies nevertheless.

Andy Warhol (center) flanked by Fred Hughes (L) and Rick Hirsch (R).
Rick slid into the photo frame at the last second.
Andy, no surprise, was fiddling with a camera.
Cousin Hal (in hat) and friend Dave are just behind Fred.
[personal photo]

Jimmy Carter arrived, too, along with his Secret Service contingent. He had attended a previous Capricorn barbeque while serving as Georgia Governor, and was casual, friendly, and laidback in the best sense. It was a day to enjoy good food, good music, and good people. It was not about campaigning and pressing the flesh.

1976 Democratic Presidential candidate Jimmy Carter
walking alongside Capricorn Records founder Phil Walden.
[personal photo]

A stage was set up a bit further into the trees, and jams unfolded throughout the afternoon. Many Capricorn musicians were there, and players stepped on and offstage in endless combinations. Again: casual, friendly, and laidback. There was a strong contingent from Atlanta. Around nearly every tree we ran into someone we knew.

Alan Walden (L) and Michael Duke
[personal photo]

It was a birthday party I could never have imagined. Not a care in the world. We said our goodbyes as the sun began to set, and headed back to the city. It was, as the late Lou Reed would sing, "Just a perfect day...such a perfect day."

Honorary Locals

In the early 1970s, some out-of-town musicians became so ubiquitous in Atlanta that they may as well have been locals. Those who had settled in Macon (e.g., Allman Brothers Band, Wet Willie, Cowboy) were already part of the family, but others hailed from further afield. They played Atlanta clubs and concert venues frequently, and built devoted followings in the city. South Carolina's Marshall Tucker Band and Florida's Lynyrd Skynyrd are maybe most obvious, but these others gained an early toehold in Atlanta as well. Club venues ranging from the tiny 12th Gate to the larger Richards drew the best. Part of the draw and interaction within those clubs was the physical layout: an approachable open stage adjacent to tabled seating, devoid of extreme risers or other off-putting barriers. In contrast, a venue like Alex Cooley's Electric Ballroom, though technically a club, created a distinct division between audience and performer with a high elevated stage, seating at a distance, and a deafening* barricade of PA equipment flanking the performers. It was simply not very friendly to spontaneous, organic interaction.

Little Feat at the 150-seat 12th Gate in 1971,
for only ONE DOLLAR.

California's Little Feat spent a lot of time in Atlanta early on, as their longtime fans know. In January 1971 they were playing the cozy 12th Gate on 10th Street; by October 1974 they were opening for Traffic at The Omni coliseum. In between were numerous bookings at Richards and return visits to the 12th Gate.
Country rock jamband Goose Creek Symphony hailed from Arizona and Kentucky. After appearing with Bobbie Gentry on The Ed Sullivan Show, they joined Jimi Hendrix and the Allman Brothers at the 1970 Atlanta International Pop Festival. They played for free in Piedmont Park, and also became familiar from bookings at the 12th Gate, The Great Southeast Music Hall, and Richards. (Update 3/23/15: In late 1971, the band actually pulled up roots and moved to Atlanta.)

May 1973, Cactus was booked at Richards.
Johnny Winter and Gregg Allman dropped in.

Texas bluesman Johnny Winter would pop up everywhere in Atlanta. He frequently was booked in the city for concerts, but he was also one who loved to jam and would just show up in clubs unannounced. It is undeniable that altered states were part of the musical chemistry of the time. I recall Winter laid out flat on his back on the stage floor of Richards late one night playing brilliantly unbounded blues solos while sitting (or lying) in. (Might have been that week in May 1973 when Cactus–the Mike Pinera/Duane Hitchings incarnation–headlined. Gregg Allman also sat in that week.)

Charlie Daniels (right) onstage with Leonard Cohen c. 1971

Another familiar drop-in was Charlie Daniels, a Nashville fixture originally from North Carolina. By 1970 Daniels was already renown and respected for his songwriting and musicianship across multiple genres, especially country and bluegrass, working with the likes of Bob Dylan, Marty Robbins, The Youngbloods, Leonard Cohen, and many others. He stepped quite naturally into the arena of Southern Rock as it evolved. Anyone who's ever been around him knows the formidable presence of the man: a tall mountain brimming with big-heartedness. Like Johnny Winter, he would show up unexpectedly in a club to spontaneously jam, no matter the genre. The most interesting impromptu collaboration I ever witnessed was the time Daniels stepped onstage at Richards to jam with British rocker Terry Reid, who appeared as surprised as everyone else. Charlie Daniels towered over elfin Reid, and brought out his fiddle to accompany Reid's reflective folk/blues/rock from his then-new River LP that verged at times on jazz abstraction. I wish there was a photo in existence of the unlikely duo. Their strange musical mesh worked, though, and lifted the room to someplace entirely new.

Bonnie &  Delaney Bramlett with Duane Allman

Icing on the cake was the camaraderie of the musicians themselves. It was still a time when love of music prevailed and contract restrictions were much looser than today. Also key was that the time period was pre-handheld devices, pre-social media, and pre-paparazzi. There was more freedom of movement and more respect for privacy. The players showed up for each other, and late-set jams became the stuff of legend. Credit must be given to Duane Allman, too. During his time as a session player in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, he drew many musicians to Georgia, including California-based Boz Scaggs and Delaney & Bonnie Bramlett. (Even after the spouses split in 1973, Bonnie Bramlett, on her own, was booked frequently in Atlanta.) There was no shortage of talent, no matter which direction you turned.

*I permanently lost hearing in my right ear there during a Bill Bruford performance in August 1979 while taking photographs from stage right. 

The Sports Arena

• 310 Chester Avenue SE, Atlanta GA
  "Only 8,020 Feet East of State Capitol on Memorial Drive"
• Owners: L.C. "Pop" Warren created the venue in the 1930s; sold to Clyde Darby during WWII; in 1965 bought by wrestling promoter Paul Jones
• Capacity: 3600 

The Sports Arena was designed to host wrestling and boxing matches. It was also home to AAU "semipro" women's basketball team The Atlanta Blues. Musical events were interspersed, wherein the wrestling ring was adapted for performances. Early on, square dances were held several times a week, the main moneymaker of the time. Musical prodigy Brenda Lee performed there when she was just 9 years old. Elvis Presley played the Arena at age 20 on December 2, 1955, as his popularity was beginning to surge. Sports events at the venue were phasing out by the mid-1970s. In the mid-1980s the building was demolished. 

Photo by Steve Deal, staff photographer,
Atlanta Journal, October 28, 1983

"The Arena is a ramshackle building [without air-conditioning] long used for local wrestling, boxing, country music, and square dances. Inside, the atmosphere is one of wood and honest corruption, not steel, concrete, and hydraulic hype. Outside, the feeling is, well, like the industrial part of town, you know, warehouses, steel mesh fences, truck loading docks, cotton mill buildings, and even some plain red dirt road dear to the heart of a country boy."
--The Great Speckled Bird, Vol. 3, No. 5, February 2, 1970, article by Cliff Endres

1970

• Fleetwood Mac, Hampton Grease Band, Radar, River People - January 25
• The Kinks, Osmosis, Booger Band, Brick Wall (Kinks cancelled day before; replaced with Pacific Gas & Electric) - February 22
• Kenny Rogers & The First Edition, The Glass Menagerie - March 8
• Spirit, River People, Ruffin - March 22 (Spirit cancelled less than 24 hrs before show; Hampton Grease Band and What Brothers added)
• John Mayall, Hampton Grease Band, Chakra - April 5
• Johnny Winter, Radar, Georgia Power Kompany - April 12
• Canned Heat, The House - April 19 
• "Rock and Roll Marathon" - Hampton Grease Band, Radar, Stump Brothers, Axis, Perpetual Motion, Brick Wall, Georgia Power Kompany, What Brothers, Ruffin - April 26 (9 hour benefit for The Midtown Alliance and Community Center)
• Grateful Dead, Hampton Grease Band - May 10 (members of the Allman Brothers Band joined Grateful Dead for an extensive jam; The Dead had borrowed the ABB's equipment as theirs was stuck in Boston)

1971

• Captain Beefheart, Ry Cooder, Booger Band - February 4
• Quicksilver Messenger Service, Brewer & Shipley - March 21
• Spirit, Trapeze, Radar - April 18
• John Mayall, Stonehenge, Randals Island - May 9
• Goose Creek Symphony, Chakra - May 23
• Steve Miller Band - June 10
• Buddy Miles and the Buddy Miles Express, Sugarloaf, Florida's Fabulous Tropics - June 20
• BB King, East Side Blues Band - June 27
• Chuck Berry, Ted Nugent & The Amboy Dukes, Sunday Funnies - October 17
• Fanny, Hydra, Orpheum Circuit, Phat Max - November 14
• The Guess Who, Peace Corps - December 2

1972

• John McLaughlin & The Mahavishnu Orchestra, Hampton Grease Band - May 7
• Edgar Winter, Groundhogs, Eric Quincy Tate - June 11
• Procol Harum, Eagles, Radar - July 13*
• Uriah Heep, John Baldry, White Trash - July 19
• The Byrds, Eric Anderson, New Riders of the Purple Sage - August 2
• T. Rex - August 21
• J. Geils Band - September 1
• Cheech & Chong, Hampton Grease Band - September 28
• John Mayall, Delbert & Glen - November 5

1973

• Mom's Apple Pie, Silverman, Joy - January 28
• Trapeze, Hydra - May 24
• Marshall Tucker Band, Wet Willie, Mose Jones, Eric Quincy Tate, Greg Scott & Eddie Terrill Band - July 1 (benefit for C.A.R.E.)
• Joe Walsh - August 19
• Fleetwood Mac, Jambalaya, Dixie Grease - November 4

*Conflicting tour databases put Procol Harum and Eagles at both Atlanta's Sports Arena and The Warehouse in New Orleans July 14, 1972. Eagles opened several times for Procol Harum on their 1972 tour, promoting the May 1972 release of their debut single "Take it Easy." A couple of online accounts of Sports Arena attendees place both bands in Atlanta on July 14. Promoter Howard Stein advertised only the July 13 concert in The Great Speckled Bird's July 10 and 17, 1972 issues. I will stick with the 13th as evidenced in the display ads. Joe Roman's definitive concert review in the July 24, 1972 issue of The Bird also nails the event to Thursday the 13th.

Sources:

"Arena of Memories," by Sam Heys, staff writer, Atlanta Journal, October 28, 1983

www.thestripproject.com/the-sports-arena

Just for Fun: the Story of AAU Women's Basketball, by Robert W. Ikard, published by The University of Arkansas Press, 2005

The Fox Theatre

• 660 Peachtree Street NE, Atlanta GA
• Opened: 1929, as a "movie palace"
• Capacity: 4675
• Note: In 1974, a massive campaign saved the building from demolition. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1976.

The "Fabulous" Fox Theatre

1971

• Grateful Dead - March 18
• Emerson, Lake & Palmer - August 4

1972

• "Live entertainment on a regular basis is projected for the Fox Theater under plans announced today. The first offering under this new format will be rock concerts by both Humble Pie and the J. Geils Band." --Atlanta Journal, by Scott Cain, Friday, October 27, 1972
• "Cin-A-Rock Show" - motion picture Free, with live music - Dr John with The Meters, Wet Willie, Buckwheat - November  29-December 5
• Humble Pie, J. Geils Band, Marc Benno - December 14

1973

• America, "introducing John David Souther" - March 1
• Procol Harum, Doobie Brothers, Tranquility - April 26
• Johnny Winter, Foghat - May 16-17
• The Dells, The Detroit Emeralds, Jackie Moore - July 26
• Clint Holmes, Southside Movement, The Bacchanal, Bro' Malcolm & The Peoples - August 31
• Marshall Tucker Band, Wet Willie, Dalton & Dubarrie - November 2
• Steve Miller Band - November 30
• Blue Oyster Cult, Brian Auger's Oblivion Express - December 7
• Jo Jo Gunne, REO Speedwagon, Montrose - December 27

1974

• New Riders of The Purple Sage, Commander Cody - February 15
• Frank Zappa & The Mothers of Invention - March 1
• Genesis - March 8
• Gregg Allman, Cowboy, Boyer & Talton - March 19-20
• Hawkwind & Man present "1999 Party," Liquid Len & The Lensmen (lightshow), DJ Andy Dunkley - March 29
• Todd Rundgren's Utopia - April 25
• War - April 29
• James Taylor - May 16
• Mott The Hoople, Queen - May 17
• David Bowie - July 1
• Mountain - August 23
• Hawkwind - October 4
• Bachman-Turner Overdrive, Charlie Daniels Band, Bob Seger - October 8
• Marshall Tucker Band, Cowboy, Boyer & Talton - October 11
• Billy Joel, Roger McGuinn Band - October 18
• America - November 1
• Graham Central Station, Mother's Finest - November 9
• Dickey Betts American Music Show, Elvin Bishop - November 19
• Todd Rundgren's Utopia - November 21
• La Belle - November 23
• Manfred Mann's Earth Band; Souther, Hillman & Furay - November 27
• Kris Kristofferson & Rita Coolidge, Billy Swan - November 30
• Gregg Allman, Cowboy, Boyer & Talton - December 31

Piedmont Park Free Concerts

By Spring 1969 midtown Atlanta's Piedmont Park had become the primary setting for free concerts, usually on Sundays, from the afternoon into the evening. The central location drew local and regional talent, most memorably the Allman Brothers Band, who had recently relocated from Jacksonville FL to Macon GA. Atlanta had yet to open any substantial rock clubs, therefore the park became a key venue for musicians to showcase material to a large audience. 

Piedmont Park, Atlanta, 1969
Photo by Carter Tomassi

Allman Brothers drummer Butch Trucks recalled:

"After several weeks of work learning this new material we were busting to get out of that [Macon] warehouse and play it for people. So... we loaded ourselves and our equipment into our Econoline and what other rides we could glom and headed to Atlanta (later to be renamed Hotlanta, I believe we coined this term but can't prove it). We went straight to Piedmont Park and found a perfect spot to set up. It was a rather large flat space at the top of some stairs with some electrical outlets within reach. We didn't ask permission, we just set up and started pouring out all of this music we had only played for ourselves up to that time.... When we finished some people were so transfixed they simply laid down and spent the night there. Others made sure that the place was cleaned up. Of course the next Sunday we went back and there was a shit load more folks than were there the week before as well as a couple of other Atlanta bands that wanted to play. This grew into a weekly event that went from that little place to a big flatbed stage set up on the end of a very large field that someone provided complete with a massive generator. Plus many more bands. The crowd grew to the level of around 10,000 after a few weeks and I don't recall a single incident of violence in all the months that this magical thing continued."

Duane Allman, Piedmont Park, Atlanta, May 11, 1969
The Great Speckled Bird, Vol. 2, No. 10, May 19, 1969
Cover photo by Bill Fibben

According to Duane Allman:

"Playing the park's such a good thing because people don't even expect you to be there. About the nicest way you can play is just for nothing, you know. And it's not really for nothing. It's for your own personal satisfaction–and other people's–rather than for any kind of financial thing."

UPDATE, APRIL 2018: Glenn Phillips (guitarist, composer, co-founder of the Hampton Grease Band) left a comment 4/4/18 on my 1/19/15 Discovery, Inc. post. Here's an excerpt in which he pinpoints the essential birth of the Piedmont Park free concerts. (For full context, click the Discovery label in the right column, then read the comments section.):

"The [Hampton] Grease Band's spontaneous Piedmont Park shows started [...] in the spring of '68 when I discovered there was a live outlet in the pavilion [...]. We started playing there pretty much every week and did shows there by ourselves on the grass by the pavilion, in the pavilion, in the tall brick gazebo off to the side of the pavilion (which also had a live outlet at the time, but was a pain in the ass to carry our equipment up to), and on the stone steps (which is where the Allman Brothers first appeared with us on May 11, 1969, when Phil Walden called the Grease Band personally to see if it was okay if the Allman Brothers played with us that day)."  

1969

• Hampton Grease Band, Crust, Smoke, Nail, Little Phil & The Night Shadows, Toni Ganim, Anne Romaine - March 29 (The Great Speckled Bird first birthday celebration)
• "BE-IN. Atlantis Rising festivities in the park. Music, food, etc." - April 20
• "BE-IN. Atlantis Rising festivities in Piedmont Park, all afternoon, music, rapping etc." - April 27
  
• "ROCK CONCERT/BE-IN. Celebrate opening of Atlantis Rising community trade fair, six rock groups" - May 3
• Allman Brothers Band, Hampton Grease Band - May 11
• Allman Brothers Band - May 18
• Booger Band - May 25 (during Atlanta Arts Festival)
• "BE-IN. Nexus House sponsors a be-in with bands, 2 pm, community supper, 5 pm" - June 22 
• Brick Wall, The Bag, Jim Cross, Semore, Barry Bailey, John Ivy - June 28 ("Grand Opening Be-In" for Atlantis Rising)
• Grateful Dead, Chicago Transit Authority, Spirit, Delaney & Bonnie & Friends, It's A Beautiful Day, Allman Brothers Band, Hampton Grease Band - July 7 (Monday concert following July 4th weekend's Atlanta International Pop Festival in Hampton GA, arranged by festival promoters)
• The Unpolished Brass - August 10
• Solid Blues - August 24 ("Socialist politics, folksingers, rock music, and guerrilla theatre... Jenness for Mayor rally")
• "Free Grease Job - Labor of Love" - Hampton Grease Band, Robin - August 31
• Allman Brothers Band - September 14
• "Mini-Pop Festival" - Allman Brothers Band, Hampton Grease Band, Brick Wall, Sweet Younguns, Booger Band, Radar, Hand Band - September 21 (rally for firebombed Atlantis Rising trade mart; 23 arrests made, initiated by disclosure of undercover narcotics officers; police used tear gas and batons on crowd, some of whom threw rocks; GSB photographer Bill Fibben arrested for taking pictures of police action, "interfering with arrest")
• Allman Brothers Band - September 27
• "Piedmont Music Festival" - Allman Brothers Band, Mother Earth with Tracy Nelson, Billy Joe Royal, Joe South, Boz Scaggs, Second Coming, Royal Blues, Hand Band, Boogie Chillun, Lee Moses - October 17-19
• Community Council of the Atlanta Area, Inc., meeting in the park with free music - November 2

1970

• "Free Music In The Park" - February 28-March 1 (sponsored by Universal Life Church)
• "Free Music In The Park" - March 7-8 (sponsored by Universal Life Church)
• Axis, Handle, Chakra, Paul Hanson & Pat Alger - March 20
• Screaming Yellow, Shayde - April 19
• "Spring Peace Festival" - Stump Brothers, Axis, Ether, Celestial Voluptuous Banana, Country Pye, Eric Quincy Tate, Light Brigade, Eros, Robyn, Perpetual Motion, Ruffin, What Brothers, Stuff, White Lie, Stonehenge, Last Era, Bremrod, Booger Jam, Total Electric, Corn Cobb Jam, Pegasus Lantern Light Show - June 6-7
• Allman Brothers Band, Majester Ludi, Chakra, Ether - June 14
• "Peace Festival" - Stump Brothers, Axis, Celestial Voluptuous Banana, Eric Quincy Tate, Nancy Harmon & The Victory Voices, Robyn, Twelve Eyes, What Brothers, White Lie, Pegasus Lantern Light Show - June 21 
• Hampton Grease Jam, Chakra, Milan, Flint - June 28
• Brewer & Shipley - July 19
• "Free Music" - July 26
• 15 Minutes, Joel, Buckwheat, What Brothers, Malford Mann, Babylon - August 9
• Duckbutter, Axis, Hydra, Flint, Joel, Ewing Street Times - August 16
• Younguns, Perpetual Motion, Hydra, Plymouth Rock, Interprize - August 30
• Sunrise, Horizon, Milkweed, Chakra, Street Explosion - September 13
• Radar, Younguns, Booger, Perpetual Motion, Chair - September 20
• Allman Brothers Band, Hampton Grease Band, Eric Quincy Tate, Avenue of Happiness, Stump Brothers, Chakra - September 27
• Stonehenge, Jelly Roll, Crossover, What Brothers, August, Underground Balloon Corporation, Kaleidoscopic Light Show - October 4
• "Women's Festival" - Anne Romaine, Ruthie Gordon, Carol & Barbara, Esther LeFevre, The Ribs - October 10
• Sweetwater; Warm; Looney Tunes; Red, White & Blue(grass); Chair - October 18
• Hydra; Red, White & Blue(grass); Younguns - October 25
• Joe South, Glass - October 30
• Avenue of Happiness - December 23

1971

• Stonehenge, Chakra - March 28
• Stump Brothers, East Side Blues Band, Horse Roscoe - April 3
• Wet Willie; Alex Taylor, Friends & Neighbors - April 4
• Thunder, What Brothers, Smooth's Barn Dance, Perpetual Motion, John Flynt, Flood - April 11
• Hydra, Flint, Foxes - May 23
• Goose Creek Symphony, Sunrise, Kudzu, Signal, Gladstone, David Harris (speaker) - May 30
• Allman Brothers Band - May 31
• What Brothers, Kudzu, Howling Bull - June 13
• Milkweed, Hansen & Alger, Fox Watson, Doris Abrahams, Vince Quinn, Jeff Espina - June 20
• Hydra, Duckbutter, A Man Called Joad, Glass Menagerie, Perpetual Motion - July 4 (12th Gate benefit)

Sources:
thebutchtrucks.blogspot.com/2011/08/piedmont-park.html
The Great Speckled Bird, Vol. 2 Nos. 6, 7, 11, 15, 16, 24
The Great Speckled Bird, Vol. 3 Nos. 9, 25, 29
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlanta_International_Pop_Festival_(1969)
www.allmanbrothersband.com
www.hittinthenote.com/first_mountain.asp
Midnight Riders, by Scott Freeman, published by Little, Brown and Company, 1995
Skydog, The Duane Allman Story, by Randy Poe, published by Backbeat Books, 2006, 2008.

Note: Entries in quotes are from The Great Speckled Bird calendar pages.

Funochio's

• 845 Peachtree Street (at 6th), Atlanta GA
• Self-titled "Atlanta's Original House of Rock"
• Opened: December 1971
• Closed: September 1973
• Note: Source material for early days of Funochio's is scarce. An article in the December 20, 1971 issue of The Great Speckled Bird [GSB] about the band Flood indicates that owners of Funochio's would not purchase ad space until the newspaper had given the club significant press coverage. The same article refers to Funochio's as "a new place," inferring they had only recently opened. First evidence of ad placement was in the GSB February 14, 1972 issue, text only, in the free club listings of the Calendar page. (Discovery, Inc., an agency that booked and managed much of Atlanta's talent, frequently purchased display ads for their bands' appearances at Funochio's, given the club's early unwillingness to invest in marketing.) Funochio's first purchase of GSB display ad space was for the November 27, 1972 issue, promoting the club's first anniversary in early December.

1971

• Hydra - December
• Birnam Wood - December 
• Flood - December

1972

• Hydra - January 3-8, 10-15
• Stonehenge - February 14-19
• Hydra (with Clear, February 25) - February 21-26
• Kudzu - February 29-March 4
• Orpheum Circuit - March 6-11
• Brother Bait - March 13-18
• Lynryd Skynyrd - March 2o-25
• Taxi - March 27-April 1
• Hydra - April 3-8
• Stonehenge - April 10-15
• Eric Quincy Tate - April 17-22
• Boot - April 24-29
• Lynyrd Skynyrd - May 1-6
• Kudzu - May 8-13
• Macbeth (with Cisco, May 18) - May 19-20
• Flood - May 22-27
• Brother Bait - May 29-June 3
• Birnam Wood - June 5-10
• Papa Doc - June 15-17
• The Motion - June 17 (3pm jam)
• Hydra - June 19-24 (Deep Purple jammed)
• Orpheum Circuit - June 24 (3pm jam)
• Stonehenge - June 26-July 1
• Boot - July 3-8, 10-15 (Al Kooper jammed)
• Lynyrd Skynyrd - July 17-22 (first encounter with Al Kooper)
• Brother Bait - July 24-29
• Wellington Arrangement - July 31- August 5
• Stonehenge - August 7-12
• Hydra - August 14-19
• Lynyrd Skynyrd - August 21-26
• Free Love - August 28-31
• Wet Willie - September 1-2
• Kudzu - September 4-9
• Circus - September 11-13
• Hydra (with Albatross, September 15) - September 14-16
• Stonehenge - September 18-20
• Eric Quincy Tate - September 21-23
• Stonehenge - September 25-28
• Stonehenge, Al Kooper - September 29-30
• Whalefeathers - October 2-7
• Buster Brown - October 9-14
• Lynyrd Skynyrd - October 16-21
• Buster Brown - October 23-25
• Eric Quincy Tate, Buster Brown - October 26-28
• Hydra - October 30-November 4
• Brother Bait - November 6-11
• Kudzu - November 13-18
• Papa Doc - November 20-25
• Eric Quincy Tate, Albatross - November 27-29
• Albatross, Law - November 30-December 2
• Hydra - December 4
• Brother Bait  - December 5
• Mose Jones - December 6
• Armon, Mose Jones - December 7
• Armon, Eric Quincy Tate - December 8
• Armon - December 9
• Whalefeathers - December 11-16
• Hydra, Law - December 18-20
• Hydra - December 21-23
• Al Kooper, Mose Jones - December 26-27
• Mose Jones - December 28-30

1973

• Eric Quincy Tate - January 1-6
• Boot - January 8-13
• Lynyrd Skynyrd, Smokestack Lightnin' - January 15-20
• Mose Jones, Sweet Rye - January 22-27
• Whalefeathers, Sowbelly - January 29-February 3
• Kudzu, Sowbelly - February 5-10
• Law, Orpheum Circuit - February 12-14
• Law, Maelstrom - February 15-17, 19-24
• Eric Quincy Tate, Cotton Small - February 26-March 3
• Blackfoot, Hooker - March 5-10
• Lynyrd Skynyrd, Armon - March 12-17
• Mose Jones, Papa Doc - March 19-24
• Boot, Brown Dog - March 26-31
• Caliban, Scald Cats - April 2-7
• Fat Chance, Mushroom Jones - April 9-14
• Sun Country, Cisco - April 16-21
• Eric Quincy Tate, Cisco - April 23-28
• Caliban, Slick - April 30-May 5
• Lynyrd Skynyrd, Mason - May 10-12
• Orpheum Circuit, Kudzu - May 14-19
• Lynyrd Skynyrd, Traktor - May 21-26
• Brother Bait, Albatross - May 31-June 2
• Ritual, Mudcrutch* - June 4-9
• Brown Dog - June 14-16
• Hydra, Target - June 18-23
• Roadapple - June 25-30
• Eric Quincy Tate - July 2-7
• Birtha, Eric Quincy Tate - July 4-5
• Mose Jones - July 9-14
• Birtha - July 12
• Kudzu - July 12-15
• Birnam Wood - July 16-21
• Whiskey Train, Armon - July 26-28
• Kudzu, Nation Road - July 30-August 1
• Kudzu, Papa Doc - August 2-4
• Micropolis, Scald Cats - August 6-11
• Papa Doc, Catfish Hodge - August 13-16
• Papa Doc, Cisco - August 17-18
• Target, New Day Ahead - August 20-25

*Mudcrutch was Tom Petty's Gainesville, Florida, band prior to formation of the Heartbreakers. The group included Benmont Tench and Mike Campbell, who stayed on as members of the Heartbreakers. Mudcrutch signed with Shelter Records in 1974 and released one single before breaking up in 1975. >>January 2017 update: In August 2007, Tom Petty invited original members Randall Marsh and Tom Leadon to reform Mudcrutch along with Heartbreakers Benmont Tench and Mike Campbell. They have since recorded two studio albums, toured extensively, and released a live album as well. Their last concerts were in June 2016 as of this update. 

The 12th Gate

• 36 10th Street NW, Atlanta GA
• Founder: Robin Feld, in conjunction with Methodist church (non-profit)
• Capacity: 150
• Opened: 1968
• Closed: January 1974 

1971

• Eric Quincy Tate - January 1
• Radar - January 2
• Avenue of Happiness - January 3
• Eric Quincy Tate - January 7-8
• Younguns - January 9-10
• Little Feat, Stump Brothers - January 11-13
• Fox Watson, Stump Brothers - January 15
• Fox Watson, Jim Rhyne - January 16
• Shayde - January 17
• Stillbrooke - January 21
• Shayde - January 22-23
• Doc Fields & Friends - January 24
• Radar - January 28-29
• Eastside Blues Band - January 30-31
• Captain Beefheart, Ry Cooder, Booger (12th Gate benefit at Sports Arena) - February 4
• Avenue of Happiness - February 5
• Wet Willie - February 6-7
• Younguns - February 11-12
• Booger - February 13-14
• Rev. Pearly Brown, Anne Romaine - February 17
• What Brothers - February 18-19
• Wet Willie - February 20
• Stump Brothers - February 21
• Hampton Grease Band - February 25-27
• Henley Walton's John - February 28
• East Side Blues Band - March 4-5
• Scald Cats - March 6
• Leonda - March 7
• Robin Conant - March 11
• Radar - March 12-13
• Fox Watson - March 14
• Scald Cats - March 18
• Wet Willie - March 19-21
• South - March 25
• Booger - March 26
• Milkweed - March 27-28
• Sylvia & Bart, Deborah Emerson, Foxes, Jim Rhyne - April 2
• David & Judy Doke, Dan English, Pan Handle - April 3
• Buddy Moss, Jimmy Hartz - April 4
• David & Judy Doke - April8
• Radar - April 9-10
• Uncle Lumpy - April 15
• Booger - April 16-17
• Foxes - April 18 
• Dan English - April 22
• East Side Blues Band - April 23
• Hansen & Alger - April 24
• Avenue of Happiness - April 25
• Hampton Grease Band - April 29-May 2
• Goose Creek Symphony - May 6
• Hansen & Alger - May 7
• Fox Watson - May 8
• Vince Quinn - May 9
• Little Feat - May 11-13
• Ever Wind - May 14
• Buddy Moss - May 15
• Frank Luther - May 16
• Archie; Michael & Kevin - May 20
• Scald Cats - May 21-22
• Doris Abrahams - May 23
• Steve Dempsey - May 27
• Booger - May 28-29
• David & Judy Doke - May 30
• Henley Walton's John - June 3
• Wet Willie - June 4-6
• Milkweed - June 10-12
• Avenue of Happiness - June 13
• East Side Blues Band [J Geils dropped in & played a set June 18] - June 17-18
• Buddy Moss - June 19
• Frank Luther - June 20
• David & Judy Doke - June 24
• Doris Abrahams, Vince Quinn - June 25-27
• Jeff Espina - July 1-3
• Bull - July 4
• Binoogah - July 8
• Foxes, Legal Tender - July 9-11
• Milkweed - July 15-17
• Bull - July 18
• Hampton Grease Band - July 22-25
• Legal Tender - July 29
• East Side Blues Band - July 30-31
• Bull - August 1
• Salmon & Dale - August 5
• Vince Quinn - August 6-7
• Rhino Country - August 8
• Perpetual Motion - August 12-13
• Foxes - August 14
• Bull - August 15
• Wet Willie - August 19-21
• Sunday Morning - August 22
• Jeff Espina - August 26-28
• Bull - August 29
• Sundance - September 2-3
• Scald Cats - September 4
• Doke - September 5
• East Side Blues Band - September 9-11
• Dan English - September 12
• Hampton Grease Band - September 16-18
• Dawn Workshop - September 19
• Radar - September 23-26
• Bull - October 3
• Prometheus Unbound - October 7
• East Side Blues Band - October 8
• Hampton Grease Band - October 9-10
• Sundance - October 14
• Gershon Freidlin, Pat Alger - October 15-16
• Gershon Freidlin, John Young - October 17
• Doris Abrahams - October 21-23
• Vince Quinn - October 24
• Milkweed - October 28-31
• Lawton Singh, Iskon - November 1
• Radar - November 4-6
• Bull, Frank Luther - November 7
• East Side Blues Band - November 12-13
• Foxes - November 14
• Salmon & Dale, Summerwhisk - November 18-19
• Robin Conant - November 20
• Bull - November 21
• Hampton Grease Band - November 25-27
• Buddy Moss - November 28
• Jeff Espina - December 2-4
• Bull - December 3
• Milkweed - December 9-11
• Suggins County String Band - December 12
• Salmon & Dale - December 16-17
• Doke - December 18-19
• Eric Quincy Tate - December 21
• Radar - December 22-24
• East Side Blues Band - December 25-26
• Silverman - December 28-29
• The Avenue of Happiness - December 30
• Robin Conant & Pat Alger - December 31

1972

• Suggins County String Band - January 1
• Bull - January 2
• Salmon & Dale - January 6
• Milkweed - January 7-8
• Prometheus Unbound - January 9
• Suggins County String Band - January 1
• Bull - January 2
• Hampton Grease Band - January 13
• East Side Blues Band - January 20-22
• Jazz with Bull - January 23
• Suggins County String Band - January 27-28
• Radar - January 29-30
• Doke Family - February 3
• Salmon & Dale - February 4
• Jeff Espina - February 5-6
• Silverman - February 10-11
• Milkweed - February 12-13
• Hampton Grease Band - February 24-26
• Rick Anderson - February 27
• Wet Willie - March 2-4
• Stonehenge - March 5
• David Olney - March 9-11
• The Motion - March 11
• Forty Fingers - March 16
• Radar - March 17-19
• New Avenue of Happiness - March 23
• Hampton Grease Band - March 24-25
• Sherry King & The American Beauty Rose Band - March 26
• Forty Fingers - March 30
• David Olney - March 31-April 1
• Solid Senders - April 6-7
• Rev. Pearly Brown - April 8
• Buddy Moss - April 9
• Gershon Freidlin & Matty O'Hare - April 13-16
• Jeff Espina - April 20-22
• The Starving Braineaters - April 23
• Flood - April 27
• Suggins County String Band - April 28-30
• Vince Quinn - May 4
• Milkweed - May 5-6
• American Beauty Rose Band - May 11-13
• Bull - May 14
• The Starving Braineaters - May 18-19
• Radar - May 20-21
• Wet Willie - May 25
• Hampton Grease Band - May 26-27
• Leon Bass & John D. Young - May 28
• Solid Senders  June 1-2
• Forty Fingers - June 3-4
• The Atlanta Electric Farm Band - June 8
• Robin Conant, David Olney - June 9
• Stump Brothers - June 10
• Bull - June 11
• The Starving Braineaters - June 15-16
• Jeff Espina - June 17-18
• Millard Archibald - June 22
• Zoot Cooter - June 23-25
• Faith Illusion - June 27
• Radar - June 29-July 1
• Bull - July 2
• Pat Alger - July 6
• Pat Alger, Robin Conant - July 7
• Silverman - July 8-9
• Hampton Grease Band - July 14-15
• Bull - July 16
• Chappaqua - July 20-22
• Albert & Newman - July 23
• Shuffling Hungarians - July 27
• Susan Miller - July 28-29
• The Dokes, Geiger Rock - July 30
• David Olney - August 3-4
• Suggins County String Band - August 5-6
• Forty Fingers - August 10-11
• East Side Blues Band - August 12
• Hampton Grease Band - August 18-20
• Starving Braineaters - August 24-26
• Bull - August 27
• Pat Alger - August 31-September 1
• Buddy Moss - September 2-3
• Stump Brothers - September 7-8
• Jeff Espina - September 9-10
• Stillwood - September 14-15
• Suggins County String Band - September 16-17
• Larry Coryell - September 26-October 1
• Hampton Grease Band - October 6-7
• Bull - October 8
• Zoot Cooter - October 12-15
• Fletcher & The Piedmonts - October 19
• Buddy Moss - October 20-21
• Starving Braineaters - October 22
• Fred Cale - October 26
• Jeff Espina - October 27-29
• Leg Of Otis, Snat Brothers - November 3-4
• Bull - November 5
• Arc - November 9
• Pat Alger - November 10-12
• Suggins County String Band - November 16-17
• Joe da Roach - November 18-19
• Hampton Grease Band - November 24-25
• Doris Abrahams - November 26, November 30-December 2
• Element - December 3
• David Ezell - December 7
• Leg Of Otis - December 8-9
• David Olney - December 10
• Nancy & Jeremiah - December 14
• David Olney - December 15-16
• Leg of Otis - December 21
• Starving Braineaters - December 22-23
• Weather Report - December 26-28

1973

• Hampton Grease Band - January 4-6
• Bull - January 7
• Forty Fingers - January 11-12
• Flood - January 13-14
• East Side Blues Band - January 25-28
• Weather Report - January 29-31
• Ellen McIlwaine, Bill Sheffield - February 1-2
• Ellen McIlwaine, Pat Alger - February 3-4
• Stump Brothers - February 8
• Buddy Moss - February 9-10
• Bull - January 11
• Jim Ryne - February 15
• Jeff Espina - February 16-18
• Leg of Otis - February 22-24
• Bull - February 25
• Breakfast Special - March 1-4
• Smith & Scrapper - March 8-9
• Starving Braineaters - March 10-11
• East Side Blues Band - March 15-18
• The Cummings Brothers - March 22-24
• Bull - March 25
• Big Mama Thornton, George "Harmonica" Smith, East Side Blues Band - March 27-April 21
• (closed for remodeling) 
• McCoy Tyner Quartet ("Grand Reopening") - May 1-5
• John Herald & The Honkies - May 7-12
• Bill Evans Trio - May 14-19
• The Elvin Jones Ensemble - May 21-26
• Pat Alger, Will Boulware, Mike Holbrook, Al Nicholson - May 28
• Buddy Moss, Sparky Rucker - May 29-June 2
• East Side Blues Band - June 4-9
• Pat Alger, Jeff Espina - June 12-16
• Townes Van Zandt - June 18-23
• Bill Braynon & The Soundsationals, Wahoo - June 25-30
• Silverman - July 2-7
• Rahsaan Roland Kirk & The Vibration Society - July 9-12
• Time - July 13-14, 16-21
• Keith Sykes, Pritchard Avenue Band - July 23-28
• Gary Bartz, NTU Troop - July 30-August 4
• Pat Alger, Robin Conant - August 7-11
• Lifeforce - August 13-18
• Silverman - August 20-23, 25
• Friends & Neighbors - August 24
• Elements - August 27
• Mose Allison - August 28-September 1
• Big Mama Thornton, George "Harmonica" Smith - September 3-9
• Breakfast Special - September 15-18
• Oregon - October 4-7
• Taylor & Francisco - October 8-13
• Pharoah Sanders - October 16-21
• Silverman - October 22-27
• Mad Mountain Mime Troupe - October 30, November 1-3
• Protrudamus - November 6-11
• John Hammond - November 12-18
• McCoy Tyner Quartet - November 20-25
• Malombo - November 26-December 1
• Ellen McIlwaine - December 4-9
• Oregon - December 11-16
• Gary Bartz, NTU Troop - December 18-23
• Mike Greene Band - December 27-30