A List of Jabberwock Shows
Latest Update: August 26, 2008
To keep this page a manageable size the history of the Jabberwock and the page of Jabberwock Art
now have their own separate pages.
Photograph from the Campbell Coe Collection
|
A List of Jabberwock Shows
Latest Update: August 26, 2008
To keep this page a manageable size the history of the Jabberwock and the page of Jabberwock Art now have their own separate pages. |
Photograph from the Campbell Coe Collection |
The Jabberwock, 2901 Telegraph Avenue (at Russell Street), Berkeley, CA
The information on this page has been researched and compiled by Ross Hannan and Corry Arnold
with a great deal of assistance and support from Tom Weller, Earl Crabb, Jef Jaisun, the late Bill "Jolly Blue" Ehlert, David Bennett Cohen, ED Denson, Colin Hill, Jesse Cahn, Evelyn Miller Kerr, Hank Bradley, Denise Kaufman, Paul Arnoldi, Gary M Smith, Phil Greenberg, the late Mark Spoelstra, Joe McDonald, Barry Melton, Bill Miles. Thanks are also due to Cactus Pete Anderson who contributed significantly to the research.
A List of Jabberwock Shows
Pre 1966
| Date | Jabberwock, 2901 Telegraph Avenue, Berkeley, CA | Some Interesting Notes | |
| Sunday | 16 June 1963 | Flamenco: David Jones, Fred Mojia, David Rubio | Researcher Bill Miles found this listing for a “Dinner Special” (cost: $1.70) in the San Francisco Chronicle. David Rubio (1934-2000) was a London born musician who travelled to Spain where he refined his flamenco guitar style. He would later be recognised as the maker of a range of high quality stringed instruments including guitars, lutes, harpsichords, violins, violas and cellos. Federico Mejia started to play guitar at 9 yrs old, after feeling too shy to dance, and performed regularly at the Spaghetti Factory in San Francisco and at the Northern and Southern Renaissance Fairs. Meija continues to tutor in Santa Cruz to this day. |
| Tuesday | 23 March 1965 | Bill Ehlert takes over the running of the Jabberwock. | |
| Friday | 23 April 1965 | The Freedom Singers | Rochester scholar Bill Miles has uncovered a number of Jabberwock dates from 1965 in the listings of the San Francisco Chronicle – one of which was for a performance on April 23 by the Freedom Singers. The Freedom Singers were originally formed in 1962 to raise money for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, and their songs and music played an important role in the Civil Rights movement. One of the group's key founders was Cordell Hull Reagon, known for his many nonviolence training workshops and anti-segregation efforts in the Albany, Georgia area. Other founding members included Bernice Johnson (who later married Reagon), Charles Neblett and Rutha Harris. They traveled widely and won new fans at the 1963 Newport Folk Festival. By the time they played the Jabberwock, the line-up was an all male affair with Chuck Neblett, Emory Harris and Nashville native, Matthew Jones. |
| Thursday | 29 April 1965 | Son House |
Eddie James "Son" House, Jr. (1902-1988) was the ninth of seventeen brothers
born in Riverton, Mississippi. After killing a man, allegedly in self-defense,
he was sentenced to 15 years at Mississippi State Penitentiary, also known
as Parchman Farm, After serving less than two years in 1928 and 1929, House
began a sporadic recording career with Paramount in 1930 and later, in the
early 40s, with Alan Lomax for the Archive of Folk Culture, a collection of
recordings for the Archive of American Folk Song at the Library of
Congress. Son House made some powerful blues records in the late 1930s and then “disappeared”. His rediscovery by folk and blues collectors Nick Perls, Dick Waterman and Phil Spiro in June 1964 in Rochester, New York, where he was working for the New York Central Railroad, led to tours throughout the US and Europe. It also led to a second recording career, this time with CBS records. House, with his musical skills intact, was a galvanizing event on the folk scene. |
| Friday | 30 April 1965 | Son House | |
| May or June 1965 | Pine Valley Boys | Exact date uncertain. | |
| Saturday | 01 May 1965 | Son House | |
| Sunday | 02 May 1965 | The Four Dimensions (afternoon); Hoot (evening) | "Jazz on a Sunday Afternoon" with The Four Diemnsions - a local jazz combo who were to be the Sunday afternoon house band for the next six months. |
| Thursday | 06 May 1965 | Alice Stuart | Alice Stuart was a child of the folk music revival and Hootenanny era of the 1960s. Born in the Pacific Northwest, Alice Stuart was initially a coffeehouse and folk club singer, beginning at Seattle’s Pamir House (or P House) before moving down the coast to Los Angeles in 1963. She was invited, by Barry Olivier, to appear at the 1964 Berkeley Folk Festival and made quite an impression on those attending. Also in 1964 she released her debut album All The Good Times on Chris Strachwitz’s Arhoolie label. By early 1966, Alice had been, albeit briefly, a member of Frank Zappa's Mothers of Invention and was credited on their first album, Freak Out. Later in the 60s Alice formed her first all electric band, Snake with Bob Jones from the We Five. After many years touring, Alice still plays regular live shows with her blues band Formally. |
| Friday | 07 May 1965 | Alice Stuart | |
| Saturday | 08 May 1965 | Alice Stuart | |
| Sunday | 09 May 1965 | The Four Dimensions (afternoon); Hoot (evening) | |
| Thursday | 13 May 1965 | Charles O'Hegarty | Whilst mis-advertised as Charles O. Hagarty, O'Hegarty was a singer of the traditional songs of the sailors including shanties, songs of bravery and sentimental ballads by seafarers who had left their loved ones at home. |
| Friday | 14 May 1965 | Charles O'Hegarty | |
| Saturday | 15 May 1965 | Charles O'Hegarty | |
| Sunday | 16 May 1965 | The Four Dimensions (afternoon); Hoot (evening) | |
| Thursday | 20 May 1965 | Jean Redpath | Jean Redpath was born in Edinburgh and a singer of Scottish ballads. She arrived in the United States in 1961 and within a few months found herself in Greenwich Village playing with Ramblin' Jack Elliot and a young Bobby Dylan. An appearance in a hootenanny at Gerde's Folk City brought the offer of a booking, won a rave review in the New York Times, and ensured that Jean had very much arrived on the American folk scene. Jean Redpath has performed much of the work of Scottish poet Robert Burns set to music. |
| Friday | 21 May 1965 | Jean Redpath | |
| Saturday | 22 May 1965 | Jean Redpath | |
| Sunday | 23 May 1965 | The Four Dimensions (afternoon); Hoot (evening) | |
| Sunday | 30 May 1965 | The Four Dimensions (afternoon); Hoot (evening) | |
| 00 June 1965 | Jerry Foster, Ray Scott, Lloyd Williams, Sandy Rothman, Jody Stecher |
Exact date uncertain. Performance was photographed by Campbell Coe. The
late Campbell Coe, who owned a musical instrument store in Berkeley and was
an important figure in the local folk scenes. After he passed away, Sandy
Rothman found some photos Coe had taken of and at The Jabberwock, and
Berkeley artist Tom Weller posted them on Bill ‘Jolly’ Ehlert’s Yahoo
Jabberwock Group. A color photo from June, 1965 shows Sandy Rothman on
banjo, Ray Scott on mandolin and Lloyd Williams on bass, along with another
musician. This group may have played as The Friendly Strangers. Earlier in
the 60s, Rothman had been in various bluegrass groups with Jerry Garcia and
David Nelson. Rothman had mostly played guitar in those groups, but like
many bluegrass musicians he was proficient on a variety of instruments.
Rothman went on to become a successful bluegrass musician, with all the
financial rewards associated with that profession. In the late 1980s,
Rothman, Nelson and Garcia had a reunion of sorts in the Jerry Garcia
Acoustic Band. |
|
| Sunday | 06 June 1965 | The Four Dimensions (afternoon); Hoot (evening) | |
| Sunday | 13 June 1965 | The Four Dimensions (afternoon); Hoot (evening) | |
| Sunday | 20 June 1965 | The Four Dimensions (afternoon); Hoot (evening) | |
| Sunday | 27 June 1965 | The Four Dimensions (afternoon); Hoot (evening) | |
| Sunday | 04 July 1965 | The Four Dimensions (afternoon); Hoot (evening) | |
| Sunday | 11 July 1965 | The Four Dimensions (afternoon); Hoot (evening) | |
| Wednesday | 14 July 1965 | Robbie Basho | Born in 1940 in Baltimore, Maryland, Robbie Basho was bought up as Daniel R. Robinson Jr., a name inherited from his adoptive parents. After discovering the Japanese haiku poet Matsuo Basho he changed his name into Robbie Basho, the musician. He adopted an unusual raga influenced style of playing 12 string guitar. Robbie Basho lived in Mrs. Sherrill's apartment building adjacent to the club along with Bruce Barthol, Barry Melton and Paul Armstrong (all members of Country Joe and the Fish) before leaving the apartment building to be replaced by Joe McDonald. He played 12 string solo guitar very much in the John Fahey style. Basho, who died in 1986, retained copies of numerous live and private recordings of his music; perhaps one day they will be given the undoubted attention they deserve. |
| Thursday | 15 July 1965 | Robbie Basho | |
| Friday | 16 July 1965 | Terry Garwaithe | Terry Garthwaite was a local folk musician. She would later “go electric” with a band called Gourmet’s Delight, who evolved into the Joy of Cooking which were at one time managed and promoted by Bill Ehlert. She remains an active artist to this day (www.terrygarthwaite.com). |
| Sunday | 18 July 1965 | The Four Dimensions (afternoon); Hoot (evening) | |
| Sunday | 25 July 1965 | The Four Dimensions (afternoon); Hoot (evening) | |
| Sunday | 01 August 1965 | The Four Dimensions (afternoon); Hoot (evening) | |
| Sunday | 08 August 1965 | The Four Dimensions (afternoon); Hoot (evening) | |
| Sunday | 15 August 1965 | The Four Dimensions (afternoon); Hoot (evening) | |
| Sunday | 22 August 1965 | The Four Dimensions (afternoon); Hoot (evening) | |
| Sunday | 29 August 1965 | The Four Dimensions (afternoon); Hoot (evening) | |
| Sunday | 05 September 1965 | The Four Dimensions (afternoon); Hoot (evening) | |
| Monday | 06 September 1965 | Closed | |
| Sunday | 12 September 1965 | The Four Dimensions (afternoon); Hoot (evening) | |
| Monday | 13 September 1965 | Closed | |
| Wednesday | 15 September 1965 | Paul Armstrong | |
| Thursday | 16 September 1965 | Paul Armstrong | |
| Friday | 17 September 1965 | The Wry Catchers | |
| Saturday | 18 September 1965 | The Wry Catchers | |
| Sunday | 19 September 1965 | The Four Dimensions (afternoon); Hoot (evening) | |
| Monday | 20 September 1965 | Closed | |
| Tuesday | 21 September 1965 | Alan Higgins | |
| Wednesday | 22 September 1965 | Chris Selsor | |
| Thursday | 23 September 1965 | Chris Selsor | |
| Friday | 24 September 1965 | David and Tina Meltzer | Since the 1950s David Meltzer has been a renowned Beat poet, writer and orator. He had previously performed improvisational jazz duets on acoustic guitar with Jim Gurley who would go on to play with Big Brother and the Holding Company. After releasing two albums under the name of Serpent Power for Vanguard Records, Vic Briggs who had been the lead guitarist with The Animals persuaded the Meltzers to sign with Capitol Records for the release of Green Morning. and liked Poet Song tremendously but thought he could produce a better album. He asked us to make a demo-tape for him to pitch to his bosses at Capitol. Later, with Joe Edmiston on gutbucket bass, Lonnie Feiner (bass), Greg Lasser (banjo, rhythm guitar, harmony vocals), Tina Meltzer (vocals, rhythm guitar) and David on vocals, guitar, mouth harp, The Snopes County Camp Followers and, in true Joe Bussard style, Billy Buckett and the Teleportts would get together. It appears that they much preferred rehearsing to playing actual shows and by all accounts any attempt to record these two elusive groups "were cut short due to hysterical giggling". Forthunately a few recordings do exist - including a wonderful rendition of "He Was A Friend of Mine" http://meltzerville.com/snopes_county_camp_followers.htm. |
| Saturday | 25 September 1965 | David and Tina Meltzer | |
| Sunday | 26 September 1965 | John Fahey with ED Denson on harmonica. Afternoon show by The Four Dimensions |
John Fahey had grown up in Maryland, where he had become an accomplished
guitarist in bluegrass and other folk styles. After cutting some 78s for
Joe Bussard’s Fonotone Records label under the name of Blind Thomas, Fahey
evolved his own unique and groundbreaking approach to the acoustic guitar,
and he founded Takoma Records to release his own music, and that of his
alter ego Blind Joe Death, privately. Fahey went from UC Berkeley to UCLA
(where he was in a jug band that evolved into Canned Heat—Fahey refused to
“go electric” so Henry Vestine was drafted) for graduate study in
ethnomusicology. By 1966 Fahey had returned to Berkeley, where he was a
regular at The Jabberwock and other folk venues. Although paying little attention to electric music, Fahey’s unique compositional style and phenomenal guitar technique was a significant influence on many Berkeley musicians, particularly Country Joe McDonald. Takoma principal ED Denson played harmonica along with Fahey for this night’s performance which was recorded by Takoma Records. Sadly, the recording was never released and the original tapes no longer exist. For more on Fahey, see www.johnfahey.com. |
| Monday | 27 September 1965 | Alan Higgins | |
| Tuesday | 28 September 1965 | Alan Higgins | |
| Wednesday | 29 September 1965 | Larry Hanks | Larry Hanks is a singer, guitarist, and trumpist (Jew’s harp) who sings a wide variety of traditional American styles, including old time country and cowboy songs, ballads and blues. Hanks was also a member of The Instant Action Jug Band that would later evelove in to Country Joe and the Fish. He apparently recorded an album of old-timey songs for Takoma Records, but the producer put echo on the recording. Hanks took the master tape and refused to return it, considering the recording inauthentic. Trump is the old Scottish name for a Jew's Harp. |
| Thursday | 30 September 1965 | Larry Hanks | |
| Friday | 01 October 1965 | The Times Square Two |
Peter Elbling and Michel Choquette formed The Times Square Two in Vancouver
in 1964, moved to California in 1965, then to New York in 1966. The act
broke up early in 1970. Peter has been living in Los Angeles since then,
where he has worked in improvisational theatre and as a television actor.
He has also made a name for himself as a writer. Michel stayed in New York
for a few years, where he became one of the original contributing editors of
National Lampoon. Since then he has worked on various film, theatre and
publishing projects. Since 1984 he has been teaching screenwriting and
comedy writing at McGill University and Concordia University in Montreal.
In the act, Peter's name was Mycroft Partner, and Michel's was Andrew I (as
in "my partner and I). To quote from an interview Peter Elbling did with Phantompalooza in 2005: I used to do a lot of mime. I had done a lot of physical comedy – I had been part of a comedy team called the Times Square Two which started in Canada, and consisted of myself and a French Canadian guy called Michel Choquette. I’d left England and come to Canada in 1964, and was hitch-hiking my way and trying to be a folk singer, and I hitch-hiked to Calgary, and became the resident singer at this place called The Depression. [laughter]. It was the first job I ever had! And about a month into the gig, this young woman came in with long blonde hair and asked if she could sing. She opened her mouth and we all fell backwards because, she sounded like Joan Baez. We asked her name and she said “Joni Anderson”—who later became Joni Mitchell. So we were the two opening acts. A little while later this guy called Michel Choquette came in and it turned out we both shared a love of Twenties music, and we sang a song together called “Wish I Could Shimmy Like My Sister Kate”. From there we met up in Vancouver and became a comedy act called The Times Square Two. We went down to L.A., got better and better, went back East around ’66 and that’s when we started to hit it. We played on the Johnny Carson show, and the Merv Griffin Show, and Kraft Music Hall, the Smothers Brothers, we toured the states doing concerts and all that sort of stuff. We did a lot of choreography in the act – our stuff was very physical. We split up in 1970 and I joined The Committee, and I did a lot of physical comedy with them, it was a lot like Second City. |
| Saturday | 02 October 1965 | The Times Square Two | |
| Sunday | 03 October 1965 | The Four Dimensions (afternoon); Hoot (evening) | |
| Monday | 04 October 1965 | Closed | |
| Tuesday | 05 October 1965 | Dave Cohen | This is the first appearance of New York City native David Bennett Cohen at the Jabberwock. David has performed multiple genres of music from folk and blues to that for which he is perhaps best known, the innovative organ sounds of Country Joe and the Fish. David continues to teach and perform many forms of piano and guitar music and has released a number of albums and videos. Extensive touring in 2005 with the Country Joe Band and the resultant CD release demonstrated that David has lost none of his original verve. |
| Wednesday | 06 October 1965 | The Singers' Circle with Barry Olivier | |
| Thursday | 07 October 1965 | Robbie Basho | |
| Friday | 08 October 1965 | The Step Sisters | |
| Saturday | 09 October 1965 | The Step Sisters | |
| Sunday | 10 October 1965 | The Four Dimensions (afternoon); Hoot (evening) | |
| Monday | 11 October 1965 | Joe McDonald, Peter Krug, Paul Gilbert, Betty Reid, Carl Shrager, Bill Steele (MC) | Benefit for DMB Publications - Rag Baby and Et Tu. Whilst Joe McDonald had already been given the handle “Country Joe” by ED Denson, he was still playing regular acoustic sets under his own name. Rag Baby is Country Joe’s own magazine and record label that still run today; albeit the magazine now in electronic form has remained work in progress for the past few years. Rag Baby Records continues to release albums by both Joe and a few others. Et Tu was a short-lived magazine that Joe whilst edited in Los Angeles. The first issue came out in August 1964 before McDonald headed to the Bay Area to become a beatnik. Advertised in Issue 2 of Rag Baby as a "songwriters' contest". |
| Tuesday | 12 October 1965 | Dave Cohen | |
| Wednesday | 13 October 1965 | The Singers' Circle with Barry Olivier plus a guest appearance by Ale Ekstrom playing "Deep Water" on his concertina | Ale Ekstrom is a long-time Sausalito "water" resident and concertina player. Many years later Ekstrom could still be found in the open spaces of Sausalito playing traditional maritime music with Julia Gilden. On April 2, 1966, The Firehouse (a venue open only for a short time) in San Francisco presented The Wildflower supported by Ale Extrom and His Conceptina. Given the undoubted humour within the Firehouse's poster artist, I am sure this is a deliberate misspelling. |
| Thursday | 14 October 1965 | Robbie Basho | |
| Friday | 15 October 1965 | Possibly Peter Krug | Bay Area singer/songwriter Peter Krug appears on the flip side of the first Rag Baby EP playing "Fire in the City" later recorded by the Grateful Dead as a backing band for Jon Hendricks) and "Johnny's Gone To War". Krug also appeared occasionally at the Jabberwock hoots. |
| Saturday | 16 October 1965 | Possibly Peter Krug |