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A treasure trove of late 60's rock star pics

LeonC

LeonC

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Joined
Aug 30, 2002
Messages
604
I was born in Detroit and grew up in the area. Lived there until '85. I saw a ton of amazing shows at the Grande, the Eastown (very similar venue--old movie palaces from the '30s), the Birmingham Teen Center (aka the Village Pub or the Palladium). Caught Cream at Olympia (saw the Stones there too, right when Mick Taylor joined). Here's a shot that was from that show:

http://gpatt.customer.netspace.net.au/cream/img/ecdetroitoct68.jpg

Saw Hendrix at Cobo Hall shortly thereafter.

http://chalnick.org/LeonsGear/Hendrix_at_Cobo_68.png

I saw the James Gang, the original Rod Stewart and the Small Faces (first US tour), Procol Harum, the original Fleetwood Mac with Green, Kirwin and Spencer (and then again w/Christine in place of Green) and a ton of other great concerts at the Birmingham Teen Center.

In my first year in college, I became passing friends with Gary Grimshaw, the guy who did most of the posters for the Grande...man, he became a legend!

Those were some great days to be a kid!!
 
Any Name You Wish

Any Name You Wish

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Apr 15, 2021
Messages
285
LeonC said:
I was born in Detroit and grew up in the area. Lived there until '85. I saw a ton of amazing shows at the Grande, the Eastown (very similar venue--old movie palaces from the '30s), the Birmingham Teen Center (aka the Village Pub or the Palladium). Caught Cream at Olympia (saw the Stones there too, right when Mick Taylor joined). Here's a shot that was from that show:

http://gpatt.customer.netspace.net.au/cream/img/ecdetroitoct68.jpg

Saw Hendrix at Cobo Hall shortly thereafter.

http://chalnick.org/LeonsGear/Hendrix_at_Cobo_68.png

I saw the James Gang, the original Rod Stewart and the Small Faces (first US tour), Procol Harum, the original Fleetwood Mac with Green, Kirwin and Spencer (and then again w/Christine in place of Green) and a ton of other great concerts at the Birmingham Teen Center.

In my first year in college, I became passing friends with Gary Grimshaw, the guy who did most of the posters for the Grande...man, he became a legend!

Those were some great days to be a kid!!
Click to expand...
Yup, those were the venues that my older brother went to and saw all these great bands in their heydays ( I was too young and mom would not let me go, so I sat in the bedroom with my guitar and learned all the songs and wore out all the albums). He has posters and all kinds of things from that period. Detroit was a major music town at the time. He and you are so lucky to have seen it all. Detroit was getting pretty rough, but the eastside was relatively safe. He got carjacked once though. We lived out in the sticks on Lake St. Claire so it was a long drive to the city. Gritty working class kids, working in machine shops and factories, soaking up all the great music of the time. He still lives in the area, while I moved to LA to make it big and then stupidly moved to CO chasing a girl. I could have been somebody:)
 
LeonC

LeonC

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Aug 30, 2002
Messages
604
Any Name You Wish said:
Yup, those were the venues that my older brother went to and saw all these great bands in their heydays ( I was too young and mom would not let me go, so I sat in the bedroom with my guitar and learned all the songs and wore out all the albums). He has posters and all kinds of things from that period. Detroit was a major music town at the time. He and you are so lucky to have seen it all. Detroit was getting pretty rough, but the eastside was relatively safe. He got carjacked once though. We lived out in the sticks on Lake St. Claire so it was a long drive to the city. Gritty working class kids, working in machine shops and factories, soaking up all the great music of the time. He still lives in the area, while I moved to LA to make it big and then stupidly moved to CO chasing a girl. I could have been somebody:)
Click to expand...
Of course I didn't realize it at the time, but I was one lucky MFer to have been born when I was and grow up where I did. There was a fantastic FM radio station in Detroit that was at the vanguard of FM radio back then with the call letters WABX. They'd do things like play entire LPs, or play the same new song 5 times in a row (e.g., something like "1983 a Merman I Should Turn to Be", when Electric Ladyland was released), or play obscure cuts from various obscure LPs. They took chances and listeners were so much better for it!! There were a few times when me and some friends would hitchhike downtown and take the elevator up to their offices and hang out there after school. Jerry Lubin was a great DJ and would let us sift through their amazing record library. Good times, man, good times.
 
Any Name You Wish

Any Name You Wish

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The MC5 and the Stooges were big Detroit bands at the time and played every weekend. Iggy Pop in classic jump-on-the-audience form...


Apparently he is double-jointed...


MC5 Kicking out the Jams...


Funny..


There was a venue called "the Domes" which were actual domed buildings outside Detroit, out in the sticks really. The MC5, Stooges and Alice Cooper played there. At 16 I got a job there mopping the floors, but that was well after the rock show period. I got fired after 1 day for doing a lousy job. It was ok though, I still had my guitar, and I joined a rock and roll band:)

I have one of Alice Cooper and the famous chicken chopping incident, but I think that might be a bit too disturbing for some.
 
Last edited:
LeonC

LeonC

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 30, 2002
Messages
604
Any Name You Wish said:
The MC5 and the Stooges were big Detroit bands at the time and played every weekend. Iggy Pop in classic jump-on-the-audience form...
i-kLhqZkS-M.jpg


Apparently he is double-jointed...
i-pgPrGv6-M.jpg


MC5 Kicking out the Jams...
i-c72pkfF-M.jpg


Funny..
i-Bg5WRpJ-M.jpg


There was a venue called "the Domes" which were actual domed buildings outside Detroit, out in the sticks really. The MC5, Stooges and Alice Cooper played there. At 16 I got a job there mopping the floors, but that was well after the rock show period. I got fired after 1 day for doing a lousy job. It was ok though, I still had my guitar, and I joined a rock and roll band:)

I have one of Alice Cooper and the famous chicken chopping incident, but I think that might be a bit too disturbing for some.
Click to expand...
FWIW, I saw The Who at the Grande...Alice Cooper was the warm up act, they were very new at the time. I think the Who did pretty much the "Live At Leeds" show from what I recall. I remember not being impressed by Alice Cooper. (I got into them a few years later when they came out with the album, Love It To Death with the hit, "I'm 18." Then they lost me again when they got to "glamours" and theatrical, lol.)
 
Any Name You Wish

Any Name You Wish

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LeonC said:
FWIW, I saw The Who at the Grande...Alice Cooper was the warm up act, they were very new at the time. I think the Who did pretty much the "Live At Leeds" show from what I recall. I remember not being impressed by Alice Cooper. (I got into them a few years later when they came out with the album, Love It To Death with the hit, "I'm 18." Then they lost me again when they got to "glamours" and theatrical, lol.)
Click to expand...
Yeah, I liked the Love It album, Killer wasn't bad, and remember Schools Out with the girls panties that came on the album sleeve? I agree Alice went overboard with the theatrics and then lost most of his original band members. He moved to LA, and I ran into him at the Denny's (I think) on Sunset. The early AC stuff was pretty cool.
 
LeonC

LeonC

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Messages
604
Any Name You Wish said:
It wasn't the Mummp. The Domes were out in Macomb County somewhere. Armada maybe?
Click to expand...
Wow...I have no recollection of the Domes. Most of the joints I frequented were in Wayne or Oakland counties. I didn't know much about "the wild, wild East Side" until I started gigging in about '73 or so.

There was a great blues club that you don't hear mentioned all that much -- the Chessmate on Livernois. Did your brother hip you to that one? I remember seeing Muddy there with Sam Lay on drums and he was just killin it...man, they had the mojo woikin that night!
 
Any Name You Wish

Any Name You Wish

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I started gigging in 78 when I turned 18 (the legal drinking age was 18 in MI then). I snuck into a couple of gigs when I was younger but I got into a lot of trouble for that and my mom would not let me go out anymore. I don't remember the Chessmate but I'm sure my brother knew about it. I know he saw Muddy and some other Chicago Blues groups that frequented the Detroit clubs back then. I was so close to seeing all of it, dang, but then I did not get drafted either.
 
Bar

Bar

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Aug 6, 2004
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499
Yes, thank you for posting these. They are like a time capsule of the greatest era of rock.
 
charliechitlins

charliechitlins

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Nov 16, 2021
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It was so cool when Rock and Roll was so stripped down in terms of trappings.
Some guys would walk out onto a simple stage, tune their instruments, walk past a mic and say hello to the audience....
So much drama and show-biz came onto the scene.
 
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