- California Jam
California Jam was a
rock music festival concert held at theOntario Motor Speedway inOntario, California onApril 6 ,1974 . It attracted over 200,000 fans and was one of the last of the original wave ofrock festival s, 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.Unlike other rock festivals such as Woodstock, the concert was not planned for release as a
film orsound 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 onFM radio stations, an early example ofsimulcasting . Several performances from the show were eventually released on CD and Video, both in bootleg and authorized form.Deep Purple 's performance was one of the first to feature their third line-up which included vocalistDavid Coverdale and vocalist/bassistGlenn Hughes . At the end of the show guitarist Ritchie Blackmore threw multiple guitars out into the audience, attacked one of the network's video cameras (which had been getting between him and the audience) with a guitar, and then had his amplifiers doused with petrol and set on fire, which caused an explosion so great it blew off drummer Ian Paice's glasses. The group is said to have left the concert via helicopter to escape possible arrest from angry fire marshals and ABC executives.Emerson, Lake and 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 toKeith Emerson 's autobiographyOscar Peterson saw the ELP performance at California Jam on television and was so impressed he telephonedCount Basie to watch.A sequel concert,
California Jam II , was held in1978 .Acts that performed at the festival in order of appearance:
*Rare Earth
*Earth, Wind and Fire
*Eagles
*Seals & Crofts
*Black Oak Arkansas
*Black Sabbath
*Deep Purple (SeeLive in California 74 )
*Emerson, Lake and Palmer External links
* [http://www.californiajam.com/ California Jam Website]
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.