Question on mid-'68 tour - maybe Jeremy can help?

[sharksfan2000]

I recently made it through Christopher Hjort's book "Strange Brew: Eric Clapton & the British Blues Boom 1965-1970".....well, not the whole thing, but at least the parts related to Peter Green and Fleetwood Mac. Great book, and I'll have to get into more of it when I have more time.

Anyway, maybe the biggest surprise to me as far as Mac-related info was Hjort's assertion that the band's first trip to the US in mid-1968 was delayed and did not actually begin until near the end of June. I'd never heard this before. There are some very well-circulated bootlegs of shows that are supposed to be from shows at the Carousel Ballroom in San Francisco, from 7-9 June (supporting Jefferson Airplane and the Grateful Dead) and also 20, 22, & 23 June (supporting Dr. John and Big Brother). Hjort says that the band's departure from the UK was delayed and that the early dates from the tour (several dates in San Francisco and Los Angeles) were cancelled. He says the first US show was probably on 28 June at the Shrine Auditorium in LA, supporting the Who and Arthur Brown.....or that they may have played on 23 June at the Carousel Ballroom in SF. He puts the dates with Paul Butterfield sitting in for some numbers (as heard on the well-known bootleg) as being from a return to San Francisco on 5-7 July, for dates when Fleetwood Mac was not even billed to appear. Sounds as if the band was originally supposed to return to the UK at the end of June but actually came back in mid-July.

Hard for most of us to know if Hjort's version of events is correct - Jeremy, or anyone else who might have been there, any insight on this? Was the tour delayed as he writes.....and what was the first US show? Any comments much appreciated - thanks!

[doodyhead]

My recollection after reading strange brew, and the peter green biography was that they were just hanging around california crashing at peoples houses because they had so few gigs. it was a bust of a US tour but they met a lot of people. Mick fleetwood talked of little or no support for them by the tour arrangers. I do not know about the timeline but it sounded like they were just annother bunch of stranded hippies in Frisco who happened to be a formadible rock/blues band. I do not know if this is when they stayed for a while at Santana's drummers house or not but it would fit nicely. this is also around when Danny Kirwan joined.

but only messers fleetwood, mcvie, spencer, kirwan, and green know for sure.
imprecicely yours

doodyhead

[Wouter Vuijk]

Yeah Jeremy, you visit this thread once in a while. Please help us out on this
:shrug:

[Ms Moose]

Well, this is strange.
While we wait for answers from somebody who was actually there at the time: I just read Mick Fleetwoods book - "Fleetwood" (1990), and he writes: "Fleetwood Mac arrived in America during the first week of May 1968 (...).We came straight to Los Angeles and played the Shrine Auditorium with The Who, Pacific Gas and Electric, and Arthur Brown. From There we went to San Fransisco,(....)We played the Carousel and the Fillmore (...)(on page 39).
The tourlist on this site mentions the 7th and 8th of june: the Carousell Ballroom, San Fransisco, and the 28th and 29th of june: The Shrine, Los Angeles. Then it mentions a concert in England - at the Woburn music Festival on the 7th of July and a concert in New York on the 13th of july in The Space. :confused:
Maybe it is a case of "if you remember the sixtees you weren't there"...:lol:

[jeremy spencer]

Ok. We got there in early June 1968. It lasted about 6 weeks. A lot of time spent in the West Coast in LA and SF. The tourlist is right. Except we didn't do the Woburn thing in the middle. We did the NY Space club with Curtis Knight, then a couple of gigs at Steve Paul's scene club there and closed the tour back in Detroit. Danny joined not long after we arrived back in England.

Well, this is strange.
While we wait for answers from somebody who was actually there at the time: I just read Mick Fleetwoods book - "Fleetwood" (1990), and he writes: "Fleetwood Mac arrived in America during the first week of May 1968 (...).We came straight to Los Angeles and played the Shrine Auditorium with The Who, Pacific Gas and Electric, and Arthur Brown. From There we went to San Fransisco,(....)We played the Carousel and the Fillmore (...)(on page 39).
The tourlist on this site mentions the 7th and 8th of june: the Carousell Ballroom, San Fransisco, and the 28th and 29th of june: The Shrine, Los Angeles. Then it mentions a concert in England - at the Woburn music Festival on the 7th of July and a concert in New York on the 13th of july in The Space. :confused:
Maybe it is a case of "if you remember the sixtees you weren't there"...:lol:

[sharksfan2000]

Ok. We got there in early June 1968. It lasted about 6 weeks. A lot of time spent in the West Coast in LA and SF. The tourlist is right. Except we didn't do the Woburn thing in the middle. We did the NY Space club with Curtis Knight, then a couple of gigs at Steve Paul's scene club there and closed the tour back in Detroit. Danny joined not long after we arrived back in England.
Thanks so much, Jeremy! Your recollection is more like what I've heard in the past, up until Christopher Hjort's book....not sure where he got his idea about that trip being delayed until late June. And for whatever reason, there are enough things in Mick's book that sure seem to be incorrect that I'm hesitant to use it as a guide to dates, etc.

I'd love to hear about your memories of San Francisco in those days if you ever feel like sharing any of that with us here on the Ledge. I grew up in SF - I would have been 11 when you first visited.

Thanks again - great to hear your confirmation of those tour dates!

[Ms Moose]

And for whatever reason, there are enough things in Mick's book that sure seem to be incorrect that I'm hesitant to use it as a guide to dates, etc.

Yes, Mick's book is probably not strong on factualities like dates, and things like that. It is more than anything a personal account of his life and times. Which is great, of course.

Hiort's book actually only mentions one british concert within the (supposedly)three weeks postponement of the american tour, namely friday the 21st, where they were supposed to have played at University of Bradford. This might have been scheduled but cancelled as well, then. Then he mentions that they fly out to the US on june 26th.

In the foreword to the book he writes: "As opposed to today´s wellfunctioning rock business, gigs (.....), concerts and even whole tours in those years were often booked, re-scheduled, or cancelled at a short notice." (p.6). So in some parts of his research he might have come up against the problem of "what has been scheduled, and what actually happened".

Anyway, you were there Jeremy, so thank you very much for helping us out on this one.

Ms Moose