People came from several states to see these shows. It was the most important thing in our lives. The Brennan kids were popular during the concert years, as you might expect, and Bartoletti says she, her four siblings and her cousins were fixtures at the WVOK shows, seated in the front row. Its effortless., Even after all these years, agreed Jones. ", Jerry Tavin/Photo courtesy of Everett Collection, From mcarter3: "Uhh. Where's Jimi Hendrix's concert at Coleman Coliseum in Tuscaloosa in 1969? I kept going to at least one show a year through about 1968, he said. By 1972 the heyday of the big shows had passed. Any of the Yes shows in Birmingham! Rare Earth. They were a staple at dances for years, packing National Guard armories, gymnasiums, and teen clubs from Montgomery to Opp and Troy, and college campuses at Tuscaloosa, Auburn and Ole Miss. Flintstone House. The 8:30 p.m. show -- which happened in the windy aftermath of Hurricane Dora-- came courtesy of WAPE-AM, a radio station owned by the Brennan family. Big Bam Fall Spectacular has had 1 concert. The largest universities in Montgomery, AL are Auburn University at Montgomery (975 degrees awarded in 2020), Faulkner University (844 degrees), and Alabama State University (712 degrees). "Lynyrd Skynyrd, after Montrose featuring Sammy Hagar July 4th, 1975 at Rickwood Field," said Bamabadger62. "Elviswas an opening act," Brennan says. Wynton M. Blount Cultural Park 52 Theaters Parks By Meowy The original investors in the company were William J. Wish I had gotten one. The audience was huge, sold out, 10,000 or more. Although he admits to anoccasional pang of longing, looking back on his previouscareer, Brennan is far from retired. I think he could call his own shots.". Procedimientos. Music you could dance to Hes been in a few movies, raced sports cars and been inducted into the Alabama Music Hall of Fame. Ask anyone who was there. TheRolling Stones were closing the gap quickly, though, with a tougher, bluesier songbook that included "The Last Time," "Play With Fire" and "Time Is On My Side." Bottom (l-r), Ronnie Monroe, Bobby Dupree and Rusty Crumpton. The Alabama band was the organizer and centerpiece, raising money for charity. I tasted my first grits there my very first grit (laughs). ", "Leo Kottke, Foster Auditorium, UA campus, about 1974," said 57939names. "People were going crazy, and you couldn't hear anything because the girls were screaming so loud," Bartoletti says. The concert series started around 1960 with such stars as Fabian and Brenda Lee. "I'm also a little partial to Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard, Jerry Reed, Johnny Paycheck, when they played at Old York Farms in the late '90s," said Jeremy Don McCollough. "Ringo had a riser above the stage, and of course this is all outdoors, and the winds were blowing up to 70 miles an hour," Brennan says. "Ringo said, 'I'm not getting up there unless you build me a bannister around this thing.' I have such fond memories of coming to Alabama. ", From ghostreader: "Springsteen, mobile civic center theater may 1976. (L-R) Bob Corley, David Headley, Cary Green, Jeffery Johnson, Bob Pike, John Key. They actually were already signed to join, when Peace Concerts booked the January 31, 1975 show. As a result, Captain and Tennille declined ABC's offer to do a second season. That was one of my first big gigs - the Big BAM shows! Via a longstanding partnership with the Benns family, the Brennans also extended theirreach to Chattanooga, the home of WFLI-AM. Once solo and once with a band. WBAM-FM /98.9 (" Bama Country 98.9 ") is a country music formatted radio station that serves the Montgomery Metropolitan Area, broadcasting on the FM band at a frequency of 98.9 MHz and licensed to Montgomery, Alabama. "One of the the things we had to do, in order to provide bathroom facilities for all of the artists, we had a bunch of RVs, recreation vehicles, and they were all over the field out there," Brennan says. The football stadiumposed a few extra challenges, Brennan says, from seating assignments to sound quality to weather preparation. That's how we put together our shows. Classics such as Midnight Hour, (Wilson Pickett), Knock on Wood (Eddie Floyd), and Mr. They didn't come to hear me; they came to hear the Rolling Stones.'". Alicia McLeod - Vocals. We always had the feeling, said Dan Brennan, that it was more than just a job., It was the golden era of rock and roll, said Moody. Big Bam Show . Instead, the concert was held at the Gator Bowl under the auspices of the Brennans Jacksonville station WAPE, the Big APE. Western European Countries, Italian Restaurants In Sandy Springs, Contemporary Music For All Coma, Ford Bronco Reservation Login, Panoplie Dragoeuf Dofus Touch, River Radio Station, Nice In Korean, How Did Tamerlan Tsarnaev Die, Den Of Behemoths Boss, So they both sang a few bars of the song, 'You're the Reason I'm Living," and we still couldn't decide which one was the real one. Her harmonies with Eddie and Jimbo were legendary, and thus the group found its new name. I believe that city has a particular significance to you. go to da moon copy and paste. And the Brennans knew how to put on a show.. The Who. I'll never forget it. White guys playing soul music!, Most of the stuff we played was music you could easily dance to, said Dupree. Anotherbrother, Bill Brennan, was the undisputed chief of the Jacksonville station, and had houses in Montgomery and Jacksonville. Office Phone: (334) 244-0961 Office Fax: (334) 279-9563 Rick Peters - President / General Manager Jennifer Pestrichelli - Director of Sales Jay Scott - Operations Manager Shelby Ingram - Promotions Director Herman's Hermits in the studio, Barry Whitwam on drums. From kwe: "The best I've seen are all of the Big Bam shows during the '60s in Montgomery, Garrett Coliseum; Eagles, 1977 in Mobile: Fleetwood Mac, 1977 in Bham CC; Atlanta Rhythm Section, 1978 in Troy Sartain; Heart/America, 1985 in Montgomery CC; Stevie Ray Vaughn/Joe Cocker, 1986 in Bham Oak Mtn; Rolling Stones, 1989 in Bham Legion Field; John Fogerty/Willie Nelson, 2006 in Bham Oak Mtn; Chicago, 2011 in Mtgy MPAC. ", "I don't know if it has been mentioned yet, but for the Alabama Theater I would definitely include Warren Zevon's show in, what?.1986 or '87?, said earman1. I don't even think it was a sell out. Shower of Stars audiences were accustomed to seeing a mix of rock, pop and country acts on stage, and the lineup for every show had a pecking order. ", From Denniswingo: "The Grateful Dead in 1978 at the Boutwell Auditorium. But Brennandoes have many stories to share -- about preventing a fistfight between two starswho wanted theclosing spot in Birmingham, or example, or puzzling over two entertainerswho showed up in Montgomery, both claiming to be country singer Bobby Edwards. But he's sure the introduction was brief, wasting no time as Beatlemania raged. ", From bamamaam: "What about the lynyrd skynyrd concert at rickwood field in the '70's.? We had a fabulous time.. (Photo courtesy of the Brennan family). A buddy and I went down hoping for a miracle and some guy offered us two tickets for $10 bucks each which we gladly paid. Beth Nielsen joined the group after Shaw left. Garrett Coliseum, in contrast, could hold 10,000+ for a single performance in Montgomery. What made those shows big was that Dan and Cyril would always pick the artists who were hot at the time, remembered Bill J. Moody, a former WBAM announcer and later host of Hubcap Classics. If a group had a hit record, we would have them. There are still a lot of local bands out there, said Sonny Grier, lead singer with the Rockin Gibraltars. I was very happy with doing the work I did. Cosmic Slop was classic, turned that mother out. I always was impressed about how well the bands performed when they were live, even though the Coliseum acoustics werent so good.. The last Big BAM show was headlined by B.J. From Denniswingo: "April 1977 was Led Zeppelin.famous because it was so totally over promoted with the K-99 disc jockeys claiming $100 scalped tickets (it was $7.50 ticket price). "It was a promotional thing for us. We occasionally wouldn't fill all three seatings in Birmingham, but I don't think we ever had one that was less than about 70 percent full, with all three together. "Rolling Stones, October 5, 1989, Legion Field," said Emily A. The Byrds. The station is owned by Cumulus Media and the broadcast license is held by Cumulus Licensing LLC. The Grass Roots. After the Beatles press conference, where the Fab Four were munching on potato chips, Diane Brennan, daughter of Cyril and Louise, grabbed the partially consumed shards in fear that her sister Donnie would eat them. I've seen so many good shows in Birmingham over the years! ", From cj75: "Grateful Dead, 5/17/77 in Tuscaloosa. They had the Stones in about 1963-64, with Brian Jones before he died. Inicio Quines somos? "(Listeners) would tell us what they liked and didn't like. We played a lot of soul music, the Beatles, the Stones, he said. The resulting concerts -- which evolved into a series called the WVOK Shower of Stars in Birmingham, the Big BAM shows in Montgomery and the Big APE Convention in Jacksonville -- became enormously popular with radio listeners. Categories . big bam shows montgomery, alabama. In the spring of 1968, we played the Big Bam Spring show in Montgomery and were seen by a producer from Hollywood named Bob Hinkle. Men. It wasnt concerts where you played and 500 people sat down and listened to you. That radio station had its concerts, too, dubbedJet-Fli Spectaculars, at the Soldiers &Sailors Memorial Auditorium. From 1963 to 73 the Big BAM shows and their counterpart in Birmingham, the Shower of Stars shows, presented four concerts a year. Top (l-r), Keith Brewer, Ed Sanford and Sonny Grier. By the time we got to the steps of the BJCC a guy had a shoebox full of tickets that he was trying to sell for a buck each. Many of the artists told me these were the biggest shows theyd ever done.. "There was a police line for the Beatles to run through, and the stage was built up so people couldn't get to them.". Hisconcertseries rocked their worlds and shaped their music tastes, in tandem with WVOK. "I didn't stay up there too long," Brennan says, laughing. Fees for the other acts were in the $300-$400 range, he says. Skyping with a Hermit And they accepted it, but we did get the total amount of the gate that came in. WBAM, also known as Bama Country 98.9, is a country music formatted radio station that serves the Montgomery Metropolitan Area, broadcasting on the FM band at a frequency of 98.9 MHz and licensed to Montgomery, Alabama. Famous quotes containing the words historical and/or videos: Keith Richards was almost electrocuted when his guitar grounded on a mic. Whitwam remembers little of that show, but subsequent performances are crystal clear. Otherwise . If it's all right with him, it's all right with me. I told Jimbo we should all come in with walkers, laughed Beavers. The Rockin' Rebellions won top honors - beating out 67 other bands from throughout Alabama. Id never seen anybody get an audience so excited, Dan Brennan remembered. We didnt play where people sat around and drank. Members: Mitch Alton (original member), Gregg Pappas, Ham Wilson, Bill Marshall , Dwight Williams, Rick Byrd, Orville Cain, Carl Tesh. the tall man aboriginal spirit; metadata api request failed: component conversion failed: file_ended; caleb foote sandlot Some of the items will go on exhibit starting Thursday at the Alabama. Most recently they performed earlier this year for a benefit show for ailing former bandmate Keith Brewer, who died in April of cancer. He would tear up the piano, Moody said, We couldnt find anyone to provide a piano, but he would put on a show. THE PROMOTIONAL POSTER OF THE WBAM, BIG BAM WINTER SPECTACULAR, SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 1967! Back then, thats what music was about, remembers Bobby Dupree, 63, drummer with The Rockin Gibraltars, a popular Montgomery-based group in the 60s. said donnna. "This was a daytime concert that seemed like a war zone with fireworks flying everywhere. FUNK-ON. A recent Skype video call to his U.K. home found Whitwam fondly remembering the Hermits Big BAM Show performances. Cyril Brennan, who received a Top Program Director award from Billboard Magazine, is retired and lives in Pike Road. So we had another beer. The chips were glued into Dianes scrap book between photos of the Beatles. Yet. YouTubes privacy policy is available here and YouTubes terms of service is available here. Springsteen played the 'short end' of the the Beard-Eaves with the curtain up. ", From Jeremy Don McCollough: "Guns N' Roses played the Birmingham race course, it was a muddy mess. I said, 'Elvis, I'm sorry, but we can't accommodate you, because it is his show.' WBAM was a powerhouse at 50,000 watts, covering much of Alabama, Georgia, and Florida.From its earliest days, WBAM put on concerts for the Montgomery area. Oh, and some guy named David on slide. Several readers made fond mention of multi-act shows presented by WBAM-AM, a sister station to Birmingham's WVOK-AM, during the 1960s and early '70s.