tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5195590583641426943.post3574780797326275488..comments2024-03-26T23:10:34.814-07:00Comments on Grateful Dead Sources: 1966: The Grateful Dead - Good for DancingLight Into Asheshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06943335142002007213noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5195590583641426943.post-11584375035067576892018-09-05T11:25:41.491-07:002018-09-05T11:25:41.491-07:00Graham had been debating with the city about the d...Graham had been debating with the city about the dance laws all year. I liked this piece for the quotes from the timid middle-class elders venturing into the scary, noisy Fillmore; but there are several ironies here. The city's considering whether to allow younger teenagers at public (unsupervised) dances at places like the Fillmore. Rock Scully and Bill Graham do not seem eager to have the Fillmore flooded with young teens - Scully prefers to have older people present, and Graham doesn't want any young teens at the evening shows. But at the afternoon shows (which were generally Sundays only) they'd be welcome. The city supervisors, meanwhile, seem alarmed at having younger kids interacting with the kind of "adults" who might be at the Fillmore, and concerned by the dark lighting. (Graham gives them a pleasant fib about the lights.) But some parents are all for it: the regular teen and community-center dances are full of problems and fights, but at the Fillmore, it's so safe and well-behaved!Light Into Asheshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06943335142002007213noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5195590583641426943.post-27080267285862726762018-09-05T02:00:46.916-07:002018-09-05T02:00:46.916-07:00One article I found on the dance-scene debate in S...One article I found on the dance-scene debate in San Francisco: <br /><br />DANCES KEEP SUPERVISORS ON THEIR TOES <br />A handful of terribly hairy youngsters, a battling dance hall operator, and a handful of parents had the Board of Supervisors on the horns of a dilemma today. <br />It all came about because of a proposed ordinance to liberalize the City's dance hall law. The change would allow teenagers to attend public dances limited to persons in the 14 to 18 bracket. <br />It wasn't enough to suit dance hall operators and most of those who spoke. <br />As attorney Robert McKendrick told the board's Fire Safety and Police Committee yesterday: <br />"The San Francisco scene is a very energetic, very lively, growing scene and it's going to do a lot for The City. I hope you come up with some idea that takes into account that you don't want to kill the scene." <br />"These dances I've gone to," said Howard Klein, who hasn't shorn his curly locks for six months, "are developing as a form of art and as a form of art they should be available to everyone. It's more than a form of art - it's a happening. It's a beautiful thing." <br />Rock Scully is manager of the Grateful Dead, a music combo, and he testified, “I have found where older people are present at dances they tend to lend a sobering influence to the youngsters.”<br />[PTA members opposed attendance by anyone under 19.] <br />William Graham, Fillmore Auditorium dance hall operator, argued for a law that bans youngsters under 16 from evening dances, but allows persons of all ages at afternoon dances. <br />Supervisor Terry A. Francois had been openly skeptical of any plan to mix youngsters and adults on a dance floor. Francois accused Graham of trying to generate pressure on the supervisors. <br />Graham challenged Francois to produce evidence of any misconduct at his auditorium affairs. And in a final angry gesture Graham declared: <br />"If you will allow people to mix at Sunday afternoon dances, I will close my Sunday afternoon dances as a reward to the Board of Supervisors." <br />Applause rocked the committee hearing room. <br />Mrs. Betty Edelstein said her three teenaged daughters had experienced nothing but problems at teenage dances sponsored by private organizations. But at the Fillmore Auditorium, "People couldn't be better behaved," she declared. <br />Her husband, Bert Edelstein, a director of the Jewish Community Center, said the center dances were harassed by problems, including fights. <br />He said he found the atmosphere at the Fillmore hall "healthful and good. Of course, when we as middle class adults go into a place like that, it's frightening when we see the scene. The noise is almost more than I could bear. But I think it's decent." <br />Mrs. Sue Bierman said she took her husband there "and I loved it. But it makes you feel kind of old. Aside from that, it's an exciting thing. In the thirties we had the big bands. Now we've got these perfectly fantastic whatever-they-are bands." <br />Francois asked about the lighting in the dance hall and Graham said, "the lighting is the same whether it's afternoon or night. It's not conducive to amorous relations. It's a very pleasant thing with slides, pictures of the musicians' faces. It's handled by instructors and experts in this field from State College." <br />Joseph von Joo, a San Mateo College student, told the supervisors, "High school dances aren't as safe and angelic as you've been told... The crime here is stopping the beautiful, loving atmosphere that is going on." <br />The supervisors referred the dance hall law back to the Police Commission, asking it to consider Graham's proposal.<br />(by Russ Cone, from the SF Examiner, 12/9/66)Light Into Asheshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06943335142002007213noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5195590583641426943.post-58825374256959523212018-09-05T01:41:48.901-07:002018-09-05T01:41:48.901-07:00The emphasis in 1966 was very different. I don'...The emphasis in 1966 was very different. I don't think there's a single article from that year that refers to the Dead as a "psychedelic" or "acid rock" band; that perspective only started creeping in during 1967. In 1966, it was assumed that any rock band was primarily for teenagers to dance to, and as mentioned in all these pieces, the Dead rated high in danceability. <br />All these pieces refer to the Fillmore dances, which is no coincidence since that was one of the only places in San Francisco where teens were allowed to dance at a concert, despite much civic harassment. You'll notice another emphasis in some of these pieces is that they're addressed to more 'conservative' audiences, assuring them that even adults, families, and high-society members can come to the Fillmore to dance and have fun (despite the "ear-splitting din"). <br />Ralph Gleason took it on himself as a one-man mission to convince San Francisco that the Fillmore was good clean fun for kids, not a dark den of sex orgies. For instance, at random from a 5/29/66 Examiner article: <br />"At the rock dances - particularly the ones for the post teen crowd as opposed to the ones for the teenie-boppers or high school crowd, informality reigns. <br />People sit in the lights on the floor and talk. Dancers sit out a number, lying on the floor in front of the band watching. When a girl is asked to dance, she may kick off her shoes and drop her string bag and leave them both lying there on the floor while she dances. <br />No one gets upset when strangers ask the girls to dance. This is one of the reasons for the lack of hostility in the crowds." <br />Articles often noted with surprise that the colorfully dressed Fillmore crowds were more "well-behaved," and less noisy and rowdy, than the typical club crowds. At this point, drugs were never mentioned in these types of reports.Light Into Asheshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06943335142002007213noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5195590583641426943.post-67977769495884167712018-09-04T23:55:25.481-07:002018-09-04T23:55:25.481-07:00The emphasis on danceability is very interesting. ...The emphasis on danceability is very interesting. It seems to me a key factor in the appeal of Grateful Dead music, and is not examined enough.Robin Russellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16617158672125005901noreply@blogger.com