1969 Ads Revisited: The Singer Bowl and the Pavilion

We got a mention on Rolling Stone Magazine's Tumblr last week.  "Gonna buy five copies for my mother" indeed!  Thanks to Douglas Wolk for the initial post.  I don't think anything I've ever posted or which has been posted about me on Tumblr has ever gotten that many "likes," except perhaps for some random hot vintage photo of Tony Hicks.  But folks, FYI: Although I do "scan" for these ads in a manner of speaking, I didn't actually make any of the scans you see before you.  (Furthermore, the mission of this blog does encompass more than Voice ads y'know...although I do realize that hasn't been the case as of late.)


Since we're on the subject of two Howard Stein-associated venues today, did you know that the Capitol Theatre in Port Chester is slated to reopen as a music hall this year?  I only heard about this over the last few days (thanks Stephen F.), but obviously I live under a Canadian rock as there has been media coverage on it since late December.

6/5/69 issue.

6/5/69 issue.

6/12/69 issue.

6/12/69 issue.

6/26/69 issue.

7/3/69 issue.

7/10/69 issue.

7/17/69 issue.

7/17/69 issue.

7/17/69 "Riffs" review.

7/24/69 issue.

7/24/69 issue.

7/24/69 issue.

7/31/69 issue.

7/31/69 "Christgau Consumer Guide" excerpt.  Montage superior to "Left Banke Top" [sic]? 

7/31/69 issue.

7/31/69 issue.

8/7/69 issue.

8/14/69 issue.

8/14/69 issue.

8/21/69 issue.

8/28/69 issue.

8/29/69 issue.

8/28/69 issue.

9/11/69 issue.

9/18/69 issue.

7/24/69 "Riffs" review on Chuck Berry (links to nearby article).

My original New York State Pavilion post.

My original Singer Bowl post.

My earlier post on '69 Pavilion and Singer Bowl ads.  (For other posts about the two places, just click on their labels in the column at right.)

Singer Bowl youtube videos.

NYS Pavilion youtube videos (no concert footage or audio, just the building).

1969 Ads: Singer Bowl and New York State Pavilion

Selected 1969 Voice ads for shows at the Singer Bowl and the New York State Pavilion. As I mentioned in the previous post, these were too tall to fit into the little Google Archives viewing window, so I had to bisect the close-ups--sorry!

6/12/69 issue. As we'll see, most of the Singer shows were moved to the Pavilion. And I'm not so sure the James Brown show actually came to pass.

6/26/69 issue.

7/03/69 issue close-up.

7/10/69 issue. Annie Fisher's "Riffs" column in the 7/18/69 issue included a review of the Dead show, with a not-so-favorable assessment of the Pavilion's atmosphere.

7/17/69 issue.

7/17/69 issue.

7/24/69 issue. "The Pavilion is located amidst the fountains, green grass and open spaces of Flushing Meadow Park. You can put yourself in the middle of this unhassled, free-form ballroom and let the sound take you where you want to go. The music is heavy and continuous, the food good and inexpensive, the atmosphere the way it must be...free..with the kind of freedom that allowed San Francisco to give birth to electric blues. Come spend a summer with us."

7/31/69 issue: Procol Harum and Steppenwolf shows moved to the Pavilion. In the original Singer ad, it appeared that they were both to play together (with Rhinoceros and Spooky Tooth) on 8/2...but it looks as if they ended up splitting the headliners across two days at the Pavilion--Procol Harum on 8/1, Steppenwolf on 8/2.

7/31/69 issue: Same info, different graphics.





Excerpt from Robert Christgau's 7/31/69 column.

8/07/69 issue.

8/14/69 issue.

8/14/69 issue.

8/21/69 issue.

8/28/69 issue.

8/28/69 issue.

8/28/69 issue.

9/11/69 issue.

9/18/69 issue.

UPDATE 6/23/2010: I almost forgot, the Pavilion is mentioned a couple of times in Mickey Leigh's memoirs, I Slept with Joey Ramone--which I'm just over halfway through at the moment, and which may turn out to be my all-time favorite Ramones-read. From page 66: "John [Cummings/Johnny Ramone] showed me how to sneak into the former New York State Pavilion in Flushing Meadow Park, where they were now having rock concerts. After we climbed over several fences and skirted security, we heard the MC say, 'Ladies and gentlemen, here's Joe Cocker!' So we left." And from page 203: "Like Simon and Garfunkel and Leslie West, Gary [Kurfirst] was a Forest Hills boy who'd made it to the big time. He'd become a rock concert promoter who, even at age twenty, was already presenting big shows at the Singer Bowl and the pavilion in Flushing Meadow Park, as well as other large-scale shows in the tri-state area. These were shows we'd always bought tickets for--or snuck into."

UPDATE 3/15/2012:  Revised and improved post on '69 Pavilion ads here.