Revisiting California Jam I

Ontario Motor Speedway, Ontario, California - 4/6/74

A Sabbathlive.com exclusive by Rob Dwyer

This is an article that I've been wanting to write for months, but I knew it would be quite an undertaking.  Originally, I wanted to research this historic event from the Black Sabbath point of view, since that IS my main point of focus.  But the more that I got into the whole Cal Jam phenomena, the more I realized that this would actually be many stories in one.  I felt I would be cheating my readers by talking only about Black Sabbath's contribution to this historic mega-show, knowing there were other tales to be told.  With that in mind, I have broken down the article into three parts.

Part I - A History Lesson: Those of you who aren't familiar with this historic festival show will want to begin here.  This section will discuss the history of both California Jam concerts, which took place in 1974 and 1978 respectively.  Most of this section is excerpted from an excellent write-up done by Robert Santelli in his 1980 book Aquarius Rising: The Concert Festival Years (New York: Delta Books).  This book is no longer in print, so I do hope Mr. Santelli doesn't mind me quoting him here, 'cause this is one of the best articles I've been able to find on the show as of yet.  Robert Santelli worked as the assistant curator for The Rock and Roll Museum in Cleveland and was hired on as deputy director of the Experience Music Project in Seattle in August 2000.

The following sections are still "in the works", but should be up VERY soon!

Part II:  In this section, I will focus on Black Sabbath's performance at California Jam.  This will be a "work-in-progress" with pictures and bootleg reviews of this legendary show.

Part III - The Wereo Of It All: And last, I will feature an interview and profile on Cal Jam's biggest fan, Scott Lifshine.  Mr. Lifshine has gained himself a bit of minor "internet celebrity" through the tireless self-promotion of his reel to reel recordings of the original California Jam FM broadcast.  I don't believe any Cal Jam feature would be complete without him!

Some assorted newspaper clippings for the California Jam show

Show review from Los Angeles Times - April 7th, 1974 (thanks to Bryan Berry) [PDF format]