Well, maybe it’s like, if you can remember shows at Ebbets Field, you weren’t really there.  (I do know if you think it was a field, you weren’t there.) Now FM102.3KCUV will revive memories and make you believe you were thre, even if you weren’t. Denver was a great place for music in the 1970′s, and Ebbets Field, a small night club located in the Brooks Tower near 15th and Curtis contributed and let music lovers in Denver, the front range and beyond hear some of the best music from around the world.  Â
Denver’s famous concert promoter Chuck Morris opened up Ebbets Field, and it seemed like everybody played there in the 1970′s, including Willie Nelson, Bob Seger, Tom Waits, Lynyrd Skynyrd are only a few artists on a long list who came through the Ebbet and made musical history in Denver.  Here’s more of that list,  I’m not making this list up, and I was there for some of them, I think:   Freddie King, Taj Mahal, John Prine, Muddy Water, Asleep At The Wheel, J.J. Cale, Ry Cooder, Commander Cody, Dr. John, the Flying Burrito Brothers, Peter Frampton, Dan Hicks, Lightning Hopkins, Howlin’ Wolf, Kraftwerk, Little Feat, Don McLean, the Outlaws, Robin Trower, Jerry Jeff Walker, Muddy Waters, and more! Rock, blues, country, jazz, every genre found a home there. Â
And to prove it really happened, the good news is, the shows were professionally recorded by the staff of ListenUp, the local audio/video retailer and Ebbets’ sound company. Many of the shows were simulcast, and I have copies of those that recorded off the radio that are like the best concert tapes I own. This is thanks to Co-founder and president Walt Stinson entered into an agreement with Ebbets to simulcast them for free on the radio, or record them for re-broadcast, usually on Sunday nights.Â
FM 102.3 KCUV is releasing compliation CD’s of some of this music, and a portion of the profits from the newly released Volume II go to the Morgan Adams Foundation, to raise awareness and financial support for pediatric cancer.
Volume II has a great medley of Willie Nelson, including his famous “Denver”, from his Red Headed Stranger album. So, okay, turn down the lights, sit back, smoke ‘em if you’ve got em, and enjoy the musical journey this collection will take you on:Â
1. LOUDON WAINWRIGHT III Down Drinking at the Bar – 6/19/74
2. WILLIE NELSON Denver/over the Waves/Down Yonder – 9/2/75
3. BREWER & SHIPLEY Witchi-Tai-To – 5/25/75
4. TOM RUSH No Regrets – 10/22/74
5. LIVINGSTON TAYLOR Carolina Day – 11/27/73
6. WENDY WALDMAN Mad Mad Me – 11/7/74
7. FAIRPORT CONVENTION Matty Groves – 5/23/74
8. STRAWBS Out in the Cold/Round and Round – 3/4/74
9. BRIAN AUGER’S OBLIVION EXPRESS Happiness Is Just Around the Bend – 4/4/74
10. WET WILLIE Grits Ain’t Groceries/Soul Jones – 6/27/74
11. TOMMY BOLIN Homeward Strut – 6/3/74
12. PROCTOR & BERGMAN Channel 85 Sign-On – 12/6/73
These tracks, digitally transfered directly from the original tapes, have been remastered by Bob Ferbrache at Absinthe Studios in Westminster. The CD package was designed by Steve Holt, includes a cover shot featuring a vintage hand-illustrated Ebbets Field crew shirt, and a twelve-page booklet with archival photographs of Brian Auger, Strawbs, Brewer & Shipley, Wet Willie, Tom Rush, Tommy Bolin and Fairport Convention onstage at Ebbets, taken by Bob Ferbrache. G. Brown wrote the liner notes detailing the history of Ebbets Field as well as help ListenUp and KCUVâ€.
You can google this and find ways to buy it on line, and I’ve seen it at some independent record stores, too.
I love hearing Ebbets Field stories! Thanks.
No track from Ambrosia? Why not? I saw them at Ebbets. They were terrific. I was visiting from New Orleans. I bought their album and took it home and all my friends enjoyed it greatly. I still play their music often.
G Brown is still releasing recordings from that show; have you looked at recent cd?
Martha – I saw that show too. It was amazing how progressive they were at that concert, particularly given how sappy their later work was. I was impressed and “Mama Frog” still beats in my heart.
So many played in that little place!
Hey LindaLee–re: recent CD
I haven’t looked into G Brown’s recent CD. I have to profess ignorance as to how to how to access that. However, this is a great website here, and is new to me. It’s a real treasure.
Re: the latest Ebbets CD: is it only sold at Listen Up, and can you give me the volume number? I am waiting for a reply from Listen Up. I’m not sure I’m going to get one.
Thank you!
RDub –That show was dazzling. A brother of one of the members of Ambrosia allowed me to sit beside and pester him with a thousand questions about the sound board and about 100 other things. He was a very nice person to do that. I was there with a relative who worked for Listen Up. I didn’t want to just sit in that old blue van of theirs (for the simulcast) while I had the opportunity to see a band I had never heard of (I was visiting from New Orleans). When I sat down beside this man, and watched the show from that spot, I knew I was witnessing something big. I had the time of my life. At one point, during a break of after of before the show, I went looking for the ladies’ room. It was down a hallway, and as I headed there I saw David Pack approaching my direction. All I could muster was a weak smile and a “Hi.” He seemed a little shy also, and said, “Hi,” back. I seem to remember him wearing black, and his hair being blonde and straight. I was wearing a long sort of boho dress and had removed my shoes as I feet were killing me. Such was my brush with greatness.
Does anyone remember the year of the Runaways at Ebbets? I was there, and can’t remember the year. I think it was ’76.
I can’t remember. Have you looked at the other volumes to see if it’s included?
Linda Lee, don’t know where, don’t know how.
Let me check, they sell them in Boulder