Rock & Roll Birthdays

• 1948 Patrick Moraz, Swiss progressive rock keyboard player (Yes, The Moody Blues), born in Morges, Switzerland

• • 1961 Curt Smith, Bath England, rock bassist/vocalist (Tears For Fears)
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• 1967 Jeff Cease, guitarist (Black Crowes-Shake Your Money Maker), born in Nashville, Tennessee

too larry said:

1947Mick Fleetwood, rock drummer (Fleetwood Mac-Go Your Own Way), born in London, England

I'm really rushed, and don't have but a minute, but let me tell you a story. The summer of 1972, Mamma, Sister and I were on vacation in the mountains of NC. Sister was between jr and sr year of high school. I would have been 11. Anyway we kept hearing ads on the radio for the Peach tree festival, a big 3 day rock concert in Rockingham NC. Sister talked Mamma into us going. We picked up a couple of hitch hikers along the way.

Lots of bands were staying at the hotel we were in, including Fleetwood Mac. Mick Fleetwood walked by our room, and looked in the little window over the door. He is a tall mofo. It's so high up there wasn't a curtain on it. {also saw 3 dog night, and lots more I can't think of at the moment}

I didn't go in the show, but Rockingham is so small you could hear the whole thing from the hotel. Also my first exposure to hippies, including a few hundred naked ones bathing in a green looking pond.

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Amos Otis said:

I was in Rockingham at a Peach Tree Festival in the 70s; can't say for sure the year. The only acts I can recall are Poco, Birtha, and Boz Scaggs....maybe Rory Gallagher. I riot ensued while Boz Scaggs Band was on. An undercover cop tried to arrest a guy up high in the stands, and the guy ran. By the time he'd made it halfway down, people started to notice. A couple more cops joined the chase, but they were obstructed by people blocking for the guy. Pretty soon they were in the infield, where the guy was tackled. He resisted fiercely, but was eventually cuffed and hauled off, but by then, the entire place was watching, booing, cursing and tossing bottles and such at the cops. Scaggs was urging everyone to be cool from the stage, but it escalated quickly. Uniform cops arrived, and a serious situation was at hand. Riot police arrived in helmets with shields and batons, forced their way to the top of the bleachers, and huddled together fending off tossed objects - it was seriously tense. Eventually, they spread out and marched down driving everyone out of the bleachers to the infield. Anyone resisting was shoved, pulled, and /or whacked. Scaggs and band had left the stage after attempting to play a few times. Behind the bleachers, a cop car was overturned and set on fire. The riot police occupied the stands while others tried to restore order, but were being pelted. A police helicopter arrived and circled overhead. It remained a standoff until the crowd ran out of stuff to throw. From overhead, the helicopter [ I think ] circled and on loud speaker ordered people to leave through the exits on one end. I was tripping my balls off. Walter Cronkite reported on it the following Monday.

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too larry said:

I didn't hear about any of that. And looking back on Goggle, it says it was a one day show.

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Amos Otis said:

Man....what a trip down memory lane the last two hours have been !



I've been been clamoring through what's left of my brain to figure out why anything I could find on google concerning the Peach Tree Festival didn't mention Boz Scaggs and riots.

It's finally...and I mean finally.... dawned on me that I have confused Rockingham '72 with Richmond '74. I was at both, but it was Richmond where the previous tale took place. Still, I give myself some cred for remembering as much as I have. Those acid years are mostly a blur.

***During Boz Scaggs' set, Bill Beville, who worked for Arenstein, noticed a disturbance way up in the stands. "You could see cans with the fishtail of beer coming out and dozens of them getting tossed," he recalls. "While I was standing there, the violence expanded like a summer storm."

Note the black guy with handcuffs. He started it.

https://richmondmagazine.com/news/rock-and-roll-riot-03-30-2011/

This pic below was exactly my view. I was sitting at the base wall of the bleachers, as it was the only shaded area.

https://newfineartprints.com/gallery/richmond-concert-riots-1974/#/gallery/richmond-concert-riots-1974/riot-74-31/

https://newfineartprints.com/gallery/richmond-concert-riots-1974/#/gallery/richmond-concert-riots-1974/riots-74-4/

https://www.richmond.com/entertainment/no-hassles-music-fest-turned-into-full-scale-riot/article_472c27d8-b9bc-5431-b257-198a72cc5450.html

What a long strange trip it's been.

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• 1935 Johnnie Richardson, American R&B musician (Johnnie & Joe), born in Montgomery, Alabama (d. 198

• 1936 Leonard Lee, American vocalist (Shirley & Lee-Let the Good Times Roll), born in New Orleans, Louisiana (d. 1976)

• 1938 Billy Storm, American singer (Valiants-This is the Night), born in Dayton, Ohio

• 1948 Bill Kirchen, American singer and guitarist (Commander Cody & His Lost Planet Airmen), born in Bridgeport, Connecticut

• 1948 Ian Paice, British hard rock drummer (White Snake, Deep Purple), born in Nottingham, England

• 1953 Colin Hay, Scottish-Australian guitarist and singer (Men At Work), born in Saltcoats, Scotland