Gone But Not Forgotten in San Antonio! - Part II (Alamo: school, live)

[BudB]

Thanx to Sweetie for chiming in regarding the '60s as they were indeed special times with special people, places and things. As I may have mentioned earlier we in Austin occasionally had to come to SA to see shows that Austin simply was still too small to draw. For example, the Stax-Volt Revue in August 1967 with all their great talent from Arthur Conley, Booker T. & the MGs, up to the greatest soul singer of all time Mr. Otis Redding. That was an amazing nite at the Municipal Auditorium until the cops shut down the show early because people were dancing in the aisles and having way too much fun in general. A month earlier we had seen the Jefferson Airplane at the MA too and that was also a neat trip. And I do mean trip with Charlie Winans helping provide a light show that was primitive but effective. We came back down again later in August to see the Ike & Tina Turner Show also at the Muni-Auditorium. Then a few years later in 1970 Jimi Hendrix at the Hemisfair Arena and what a fun show that was especially after the lights went down and everyone lit up. My girl friend and I sold sliced watermelon at an all day-long rock concert in a Drive-In somewhere on Somerset Rd. or Lardeo Hi-way maybe. That was on the 4th of July 1972 so not truly the '60s but it felt like it and we saw among others Freda & the Firedogs. Freda was the one and only Marcia Ball who is still pumping it out with her killer keyboards. I'm also glad Sweetie mentioned the Sunken Gardens Theater since there were a lot of good shows there over the years and maybe still are.
And yes sir to Boss R, we did indeed very likely cross paths at the McCreles Toy Box because it was a regular stop for us model airplane nuts. I always recall it fondly for another reason too and that was for its air conditioning which was still relatively new for a lot of places in SA in 1958. We did not get it in our home until 1961 and then it was just a Fredericks window unit for the living room. The Toy Box was always cool and dark or is in my memory of it so going from a blistering hot bright summer's day into the cool confines of a small modestly lit toy shop is certainly a sweet memory.
Meanwhile, a classmate buddy of mine also worked at the Conoco gas station you wrote of but that was a few years later when I was in high school '61-'63 at Highlands. Anyhow, I'll bet that me and the Boss man did cross paths more than a few times back then and maybe even knew each other socially somehow or shared friends in some ways. Thanks for the response and let's keep it going.

[Buffyfan]

Wow! Jimi Hendrix was at Hemisfair arena in 1970?

[Dube665]

Originally Posted by Buffyfan

Wow! Jimi Hendrix was at Hemisfair arena in 1970?

You can find the flyer to that show the "Keep San Antonio Lame" FB page.

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[Sweetie Pie]

Originally Posted by BudB

My girl friend and I sold sliced watermelon at an all day-long rock concert in a Drive-In somewhere on Somerset Rd. or Lardeo Hi-way maybe. That was on the 4th of July 1972 so not truly the '60s but it felt like it and we saw among others Freda & the Firedogs. Freda was the one and only Marcia Ball who is still pumping it out with her killer keyboards. I'm also glad Sweetie mentioned the Sunken Gardens Theater since there were a lot of good shows there over the years and maybe still are.

LOL! And dam, that was some pretty tasty watermellon that day, Bud B!!!

Canned Heat, Country Joe & the Fish, at Sunken Gardens were really good concerts. And they always showed that movie "Me and My Arrow" sung by Neilson. Awww fun times!!!

[BudB]

Originally Posted by Buffyfan

Wow! Jimi Hendrix was at Hemisfair arena in 1970?

Yes indeed but I reckon what got the '60s started musically in SA were the Rolling Stones when they played the Teen Fair in the summer of 1964. Believe it or not that gig was at Joe Freeman Coliseum and it wasn't a sell out because only a few people ever heard of them then. That was the Stones' first American tour and they were still down and dirty and mighty rough around the edges mostly doing hard core blues.
Glad you enjoyed the watermelon SW since we were selling it so fast there wasn't time for it to get cold in the big tub of ice water we had in the booth. But it was still sweet and juicy on that 104 degree day when there must have been a few thousand people on hand inside the old drive-in. And, I don't recall any fights, brawls, gunfire or riots so it must have been mostly a bunch of flower children left over from the '60s.

[Dwangle]

I still have my ticket stub Jimi Hendrix plus THE EXPERIENCE. Sunday May 10 1970 Jam Productions

[Dwangle]

Oh and mostly everyone agree's that the sixties started with the Kennedy Assassination and ended with Watergate

[BudB]

Originally Posted by Dwangle

Oh and mostly everyone agree's that the sixties started with the Kennedy Assassination and ended with Watergate

I'll buy that but stick to my original remark as well, "...but I reckon what got the '60s started musically in SA were the Rolling Stones when they played the Teen Fair in the summer of 1964.

JFK's death put us certainly onto the slippery slope of ruination I sometime suspect we're still sliding down but whereto is anyone's guess.

[Dwangle]

Ok I might have told this story already but here it is again. KONO radio had a contest where everyone was supposed to send in pictures for some reason ( I don't know why--just some promotion I'm sure) . I loved Buddy Holly and when he died the music business created a replacement called Bobby Vee. You may disagree with me on that but I accepted Bobby Vee as a suitable replacement. I still like him actually. When the teen fair was announced my older sister sent in a picture of my mom in one of those old ancient swim suit's. She won tickets to see Bobby Vee. I was too young to go. They added the Rolling Stones to that show after the tickets were sold (I think). It was at this show that the Stones met a Saxphone player from Dallas named Bobby Key's. I never could figure out how a Saxphone player from Dallas could end up with a bunch of Limey's but that's what happened. My sister hated the Rolling Stones. She thought they were just a bunch of greasy hoods! Back then they probably were.

[Dwangle]

One more thing I just thought of. The Rolling Stones first hit was "Not Fade Away". A Buddy Holly song