We were waiting at the Holiday Inn, in the bar at the hotel having a beer. He founded his own company, Brennan Video Productions, in 1982and he continues to work there, transferring VHS tapes, old films and other retro footage to DVDs. The most entertaining act? "Rickwood Field, late 70's. ", From Will-I: "Bruce Springsteen in Auburn in 1975. A close second would be Yes at the Concert Hall in 2013. "It didn't matter. I believe that city has a particular significance to you. "I'm so. Prattville, Alabama 36066 (334) 358-9460 View Weekly Ad Hours Store Services Full Furniture with Mattresses Furniture Leasing Furniture Delivery Milk, Eggs & Grocery Featured Be a Backyard Bigionaire! "We all felt very privileged," Bartoletti says. "To go to the concerts was huge. The Other Side of Montgomery - Google Books "Best concert I caught in this state was at Memorial Coliseum in Tuscaloosa in 1978 Lowell George and Little Feat. Go to the Archives All who attended the big September 19th show must present ticket stub at gate between 12 noon and 1PM. Montgomery resident Mike Vickery remembers getting a friends mother to drive him and others to the WBAM station to get tickets as soon as they went on sale so we could get them near the front on the floor. On one occasion, he accompanied some female friends to the Diplomat Inn where they spotted Lou Christie sitting by the pool, a secret one of them has never told her mother to this day.. The detailed map shows the US state of Alabama with boundaries, the location of the state capital Montgomery, major cities and populated places, rivers and lakes, interstate highways, principal highways, railroads and major airports. I tried to get us all to dress up as the Fruit of the Loom guys but no one wanted to., For musicians who played together for years, there wont be a need to practice much, if at all. A guy during intermission pulled his hankee out of his pockes and a gun fell out and fired a round into the row od seats in front of us. 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. "Two guitars and a stool. Both concerts were sold out. Montgomery's home for country music favorites like Tim McGraw, Blake Shelton, Alan Jackson, George Strait, Carrie Underwood, Miranda Lambert . YouTubes privacy policy is available here and YouTubes terms of service is available here. ", Brennan, headquartered in Birmingham, rode herd over the Shower of Stars and was the primary talent buyer for the concerts, along with his other duties at WVOK. Keyboardist Mark Marvin will fill in for Eddie Wohlford who is unable to attend. Classics such as Midnight Hour, (Wilson Pickett), Knock on Wood (Eddie Floyd), and Mr. Their annual Big Bam shows, and Show of Stars were traveling medicine shows and featured Lou Christie, Roy Orbison, The Animals. For fans, half the fun was trying for a glimpse of the stars at their hotel or coming to and from the coliseum. The wildest thing other than the Troggs rocking out to "Wild Thing" and whipping around long dirty hanks of British hair was Lou Christie. Otherwise . He was lead singer of the Rockin Gibraltars, formed in 1965 by a group of students at Lee High School. We do everything from Jerry Jeff Walker to the Grateful Dead to Van Morrison, says Pappas. Wish I had gotten one. WBAM-FM - ipfs.fleek.co I always got seats on the floor for the shows. ", From dassani: "I was there Could not have been better! I play music half the time, the other half Im a toilet salesman, Jones said, which means hes in wholesale plumbing with Thompson Supply Co. Ask anyone who was there. Despite her young age -- she was 7 that year -- Bartoletti felt another emotion at the Gator Bowl: extreme pride. "It was quite a thing.". Contact - Bama Country 98.9 - WBAM The Rockin' Rebellions won top honors - beating out 67 other bands from throughout Alabama. Our four-piece horn section sets us apart, said Key. WMSP (740 AM, "Sports Radio 740") is a radio station licensed to serve Montgomery, Alabama, USA.The station is owned by Cumulus Media and the broadcast license is held by Cumulus Licensing LLC. The Righteous Brothers. When was the last concert at Big Bam Fall Spectacular? Hank Williams was another frequent live on-air performer. Music lovers would line up at each venue, some arriving hours in advance, then rush inside to secure their favorite general-admission seats. Rock 'n' roll had just started, and you were right in the middle of it.". Those two days in Alabama left a lasting impression on us because it was how we measured the rest of our gigs.. The Big BAM was WBAM, the 50,000-watt AM radio station owned by the Brennan family, whose other Alabama station was Birminghams WVOK. Men. There are still a lot of local bands out there, said Sonny Grier, lead singer with the Rockin Gibraltars. The Fab Four wouldnt play to segregated audiences, and at that time this was the case in Alabama. YouTubes privacy policy is available here and YouTubes terms of service is available here. Beavers and Jones will be joined by former members Kelvin Holly, who works in the recording industry in Muscle Shoals and tours with Neil Young, and Bill Hinds, who tours with the Paul Thorn Band. But in the stations' 1960s heyday, shows usually kicked off on Fridays inMontgomery atGarrett Coliseum and moved to Birmingham on Saturdays at Municipal Auditorium (now called Boutwell Auditorium). 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. "Times have changed so," said a wistful Peek, the Shower of Stars devotee. December 24, 1958: Jerry Lee Lewis ; December 12, 1959: Fabian, The Fleetwoods, The Browns, Floyd Robinson and Bobby Lee Trammell It wasnt concerts where you played and 500 people sat down and listened to you. Butspeaking in general terms, each also hada specialty: Bill the visionaryentrepreneur, Cyril the tech-mindedpioneer, Dan the key concert producer and a smooth, recognizable voice at WVOK. Emerson, Lake and Palmer in QUAD sound - Tuscaloosa circa 1973. HOW COME PAUL GODDARD PUSHES HIS GLASSES UP THE BRIDGE OF HIS NOSE? Jones, now 59, also played school dances and armories in a group called The Drones. With the help of Bill Moody and Cyril Brennan at WBAM, their music was played on the 100,000-watt radio station, helping the group built a following as an R&B band. I don't know, I guess people got to trust us. Brennan, who understands the pull of nostalgia, says he's heard similar sentiments from many Birmingham folkswho came of age at the Shower of Stars. The Young Rascals. ", From shapeshiftinhmojo: "The Allman Brothers played at the National Guard Armory as both the Almond Joys and as the Allman Brothers in the 1960's as well as Tuscaloosa in the seventies when they were huge. Kenny Rogers and the First Edition. Both stations played Top 40 hits of the day, and the concerts were the Brennans' gifts to a loyal radio audience. I just went to the Coliseum for the music. Tommy James Interview: Singer Discusses His Autobiography 'Me, the Mob big bam shows montgomery, alabama ", From estevev: "Of the ones I attended, the most memorable ones were -- Ike and Tina Turner Review, Plush Horse, (1974? 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. Shower of Stars - Bhamwiki . Toni loved doing the show, but Daryl, who never enjoyed being on camera, did not. It's not like now, where they have secret tunnels and drive right into the auditorium.". If you purchase a product or register for an account through one of the links on our site, we may receive compensation. Big Lots Prattville: Furniture, mattress & home product store in Dan Brennan recalls the reaction from performers. From Sell it to the tourists: "I saw an amazing Harry Chapin show at the BJCC Concert Hall in around 1978? 100 feet later someone offered us tickets at face value. Yet. big bam shows montgomery, alabama - mmischools.com One was the Cramton Bowl in Montgomery, Alabama, which was to host a concert on September 10 th. Lou Christie was huge in Montgomery. Tickets to these shows were typically $3 to $4. December 3, 1955-As an extra Bonus..here's the advertisement for sister station WBAM, Montgomery, AL, when the very young Elvis Presley appeared. "And that made a big difference, because people didn't have the opportunity to turn on the TV set and see these artists, after they'd been buying their records. "They would be paying the acts, literally, in cash. Lead in groups were the James Gang with Joe Walsh, and a group that got booed called Frampton's Camel before Peter Frampton hit it big. That's how we put together our shows. From Brian Willis: "Any of Alabama's June Jams. Big BAM Shows of the late 1960s and early 1970s featured all the biggest artists of the day, including Paul Revere and the Raiders, Lou Christie, Iron Butterfly, The Carpenters, The Monkees (as a group and individually), Tommy Joyce and Bobby Heart, The Grass Roots, and many more. The Brennan Brothers were radio broadcast innovators of the 1950s and 60s, when they owned and operated powerhouse stations in Jacksonville, Chattanooga, and . If you have one, it's going to be way down the other part of the field.' I think we had at least 15,000-16,000 people there. WVOK Shower of Stars | Flickr From Mike Travis: "KISS, Van Halen, Rush, The Who, The Rolling Stones , Pink Floyd the racetrack mudfield to see GNR, Billy Joel and Elton John as well as the Eagles and Metallica in '81. Performers would play to more than 10,000 at Garrett Coliseum in Montgomery Friday night (for Tommy James in 1967 it just seemed like 30,000), then pack-up and play three shows in Birmingham on Saturday. (Photo courtesy of the Brennan family). Were a dance band.. Clapton! WMSP - Wikipedia The Louvin Brothers. ", From GmanGent: "Alice Cooper Von Braun in 1974's Welcome to my Nightmare Tourone of the most successful tours financially up until that time. rock pilgrimage Wynton M. Blount Cultural Park 52 Theaters Parks By Meowy "It was a promotional thing for us. Show Duplicate for Mar 22, 2013: Mar 08, 2013 Justin Moore: Garrett Coliseum: Moody also got to do his share of transporting stars, taking them to the Diplomat Inn, owned by Bill Brennan, older brother of Cyril and Dan and a partner in WBAM and WAPE. Jimbo Jones (L) and Tommy Beavers look forward to the reunion of Harmony. But Lewis went over his allotted time. The band also played Birmingham in May 1977, according to this story by Madison Underwood. He was a very special guy. WBAM Big Bam Shows - YouTube Dan Brennan had the honor of introducing the Beatles. Beavers has played drums for various bands, including Doc Severinson, Willie Nelson and Lyle Lovett, winning a Grammy Award for Best Performance by Duo or Group in 1994 while a member of Asleep at the Wheel. During a recent show some ladies, obviously a few years older than him, recognized Grier from the early Gibraltar days. ", "This is so subjective and there are way too many to pick from. Big Bam Fall Spectacular Concert History - Concert Archives Herman's Hermits. And they accepted it, but we did get the total amount of the gate that came in. ", From bamamaam: "What about the lynyrd skynyrd concert at rickwood field in the '70's.? 3. They responded, swiftly and passionately, to a recent post listing 31 of the greatest shows at venues throughout the state.