A film of Sabbath we've never seen before....
Live at Cumberland County Arena in Fayetteville, NC on January 30th, 1977
A Sabbathlive exclusive interview with Steve Cowart - the man who filmed it!
By Robert Dwyer
III. The Main Course - Steve's '77 Film!!
IV. More of Steve's Concert Filming Adventures
V. Rob's Visit & The Private Screening
Here’s a story that I’ve been sitting on MUCH too long! Back in December, a site visitor named Brian Manley (who will have his own feature article soon) pointed me to a film of Sabbath from 1977 that was advertised on e-Bay. I was initially skeptical about the film being anything new, since I often find misdated copies of the London ’78 show that are being auctioned off. Instead, I discovered a film AND a gig date that I wasn’t even aware of: Cumberland County Arena, Fayetteville, NC on 1/30/77. It turned out to be a never before seen Super 8 film from the TECHNICAL ECSTASY tour!! I had to know more about this mysterious footage, since there is currently no footage of Black Sabbath performing live on that tour in circulation.
I wrote the seller a lengthy e-mail and questionnaire about this video. After a few interchanges, Floridian Steve Cowart wrote me back with, “save yourself a few thousand words and call me!” It was then that I had the opportunity to speak with a real journeyman rock fan! I sat and listened to him spin many tales about his concert adventures and his prized Super 8 film collection. And regardless of the treasures he would unveil for me, I am thankful to have met a person who turned out to be quite kind to me and generous with his time!
Steve told me he owned a boutique in the mid 70's and sold concert tickets for the Cumberland County Arena in Fayetteville, NC. Besides selling tickets, he also provided transportation (party buses) to many of the concerts (Lynyrd Skynyrd, Blue Oyster Cult & Led Zeppelin). Because of his relationship with the promoter, at each show he was given an 'All Access' pass & permission to film the show. Thus began a 2 year rock and roll filming frenzy packed full of memorable personal experiences, lots of good shows & one bad (a particular Cheap Trick show, but that’s another story!).
He used a Super 8 movie camera and filmed all of the shows without audio. While this camera did have the capability to capture sound, Steve tells me that it would have been badly out-of-sync if he had done this. Regardless, he unknowingly captured rock ‘n’ roll history with his personal movie camera!
From an average distance of only 5 to 20 feet, Steve filmed countless bands over this 2 year span. These included Black Oak Arkansas, Ted Nugent, REO Speedwagon, Dr Hook, Uriah Heep (Fayetteville, NC - 6/77), Nazareth (5/77), Lynyrd Skynyrd (4/77), Cheap Trick (9/77), Heart (10/77), Boston, Aerosmith, Bob Seger, Foreigner, Pat Travers, The Outlaws, Foghat, Rick Derringer, Blue Oyster Cult, The Rolling Stones (Lakeland, FL - 6/78), Frank Marino & Mahogany Rush, Marshall Tucker Band, Sammy Hagar, Johnny Winter, The Doobie Brothers and Black Sabbath. In addition, he also has a 1978 World Tour performance of Bob Dylan.
Many of his films are of particular historical significance to collectors. For instance, his 1977 Lynyrd Skynyrd film (22 minutes) captured the band at the height of their powers, just a few months before the tragic plane crash that ended the lives of Ronnie Van Zant, Steve & Cassie Gaines and several others. Due to Steve's financial circumstances, he sadly opted to auction to this film off to a private collector. His original Super 8 master of this film fetched a whopping $1,225 on eBay!
It was during this auction that I began talking to Steve. At first, I was only aware of the Sabbath film, which I was afraid would be auctioned off to a private collector who simply hoard the film. Thankfully, this didn't happen and Steve had second thoughts about parting with his rare gems so quickly.
I asked Steve why he had never circulated any of these films before and he seemed almost puzzled by it. After some thought he replied, "While filming all these rock and roll performances, I never had any expectations of financial reward. I just combined his love of rock and roll music with my new hobby (home movies). And after each concert filmed, I was challenged that much more to get more & better footage. Now this was in the mid to late 70's, no MTV, no heavy mainstream promotion of Rock and Roll, it was a genre and still had an almost 'underground' feel to it. You saw 3 bands for a $5.00 ticket! These days, $5 barely covers the service charge! Years later, I have a collection of over 6 hours of classic, unforgettable and unseen performances of rock and roll history."
The Main Course - Steve's '77 Sabbath film!!
Screen captures from Steve's Super 8 film of Sabbath in Fayetteville, NC - 1/30/77
While I'm sure many of you will enjoy hearing about Steve's other concert experiences, the main point of interest for us at Sabbathlive.com is his film of Black Sabbath....OF COURSE! I was quite stunned when Steve first confirmed the venue and date of his film, since this is the first live footage I've ever heard of from the TECHNICAL ECSTASY tour. He too was surprised to learn of this, since he had no idea of the full historical importance of his private film. I wanted to know all that he could tell me about this footage, so he related the information to me.
"This is the original master film, shot by me and never shown publicly. A little background here: Up until the time that I filmed this show, I had been filming rock shows for 1 year with the same camera and was just blown away by the results. But using low light indoor film with the combination of stage lighting the results were TV quality. The stages were always built with scaffolding approximately 6 feet high with a plywood barrier to keep the fans away from the bands. Between the vertical barrier & the stage was a 'pit' or gap between where the stage ended & the barrier was. This pit usually ran across the stage with only area that held the bands monitors. It was in this pit that I shot most, but not all of my film. I had an all access pass and sometimes I would get on the side of the stage and film.”
"The complete running time of the Sabbath film is 13 minutes. I filmed all the members of the band, not just Ozzy. At the end of the set when the pedestal drum set lit up and started billowing out smoke, I got a great shot of that also. You can clearly see & recognize all the players (Bill Ward's face is a little hard to see). Even Ozzy looks fit & healthy. Also all my editing was done in the camera. The only cuts were to attach the rolls from end to end. This is a quality piece of rock and roll history and I'm proud to say I filmed it.”
So the obvious question in everyone's minds is "Will we ever get to see it?" Steve is in the process of transferring his Super 8 masters to digital media and eventually DVD. I have yet to see the film myself, but he has offered to give me a private screening. I think I may just take him up on his offer and make a road trip this spring to see some of these historic films. But once the films have been transferred, there is an excellent possibility that he will make it available to the public through Sabbathlive.com! Be sure to keep your eyes fixed on these pages for the official release date of this rarity!
But for now, Steve has been generous enough to give us a sneak peek at the Fayetteville '77 film. To enjoy this exclusive photo gallery, you must type in this site address - 'sabbathlive.com'
Screen captures from Steve Cowart's '77 Sabbath film (in PDF format)
You must have Adobe Acrobat 5 to view this gallery
More of Steve's concert filming adventures!
Steve was honored with several presentations of his Super 8 films for the bands themselves! "I think I got my biggest kicks from showing my films to some of the bands I filmed. I showed Nazareth their performance footage in a hotel room in Johnston City, TN. REO Speedwagon watched one of their earlier shows that I filmed as we sat backstage in their dressing room. This was after a performance with Black Oak Arkansas in Lakeland, FL. Also, Pat Travers saw his filmed footage at his rehearsal studio in Orlando, FL."
One story that he proudly related was about meeting REO Speedwagon. He had come to film a Blue Oyster Cult show, second on the bill was REO Speedwagon. While watching the first band (whose name is now lost to time), Kevin Cronin (the lead singer of REO) asked Steve to give him his honest opinion about what he thought about his band. Steve reluctantly said that they were “Okay, but . . . . . . ” as he searched for the most tactful way to appaise REO without pissing him off. Steve told Kevin that he had heard all of REO's albums up to that point, but didn't own any as of yet! Finally Kevin said " . . . . inconsistent . . . . our albums up to that point have been inconsistent." Relieved by Cronin's honesty, Steve replied "Yeah, that pretty well hits the nail on the head". Kevin said "Well in 2 weeks we are releasing a new album called YOU GET WHAT YOU PLAY FOR and promised that tonight's show would blow him away.
True to Kevin's own words, REO's performance that night was absolutely
stellar. In fact, Steve felt that REO nearly blew
Blue Oyster Cult off the stage, so Kevin’s promise was fulfilled!
About a year later, Steve had the honor and opportunity of screening one of his
private REO
films for the band as well!
He filmed another piece of history when he got 25 minutes of The Stones
playing a warm-up gig for the SOME GIRLS tour at Lakeland Civic Center
Arena in
Lakeland, FL in June 10th, 1978. They played their show under the alias
"The Great Southeast Stoned Out Wrestling Champions" (see ticket on
left), so most people wouldn’t know it was them. The
show sold out immediately on the very first day they went on sales, even though
tickets were only available at the
Lakeland box office! The opening act was the Henry
Paul Band out of Tampa, FL, whose namesake was one of the founding members of
The Outlaws. What made the Stones
show 'special' was their
bare bones set, which was more than a dress rehearsal They played a full 70 minute set
and only 3 or 4 of those songs were from the SOME GIRLS
album. All the
Stones were present for this gig: Mick, Keith, Ron, Bill & Charlie.
Steve remarked, "You take for granted that the lead singer handles the vocals,
but Mick
also played lead guitar, harmonica and the piano! I was most impressed
with his versatility. As far as I know, my film is the only one
that exists of this performance, but I've been told that some bootleg
audio of this show is floating around out there somewhere.
[Editor's note: That is correct. There is a bootleg of this show
titled SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE and the set list
includes the following tracks: Let It Rock, All Down The Line, Honky Tonk Woman, Star Star, When The Whip Comes Down, Miss You, Beast Of Burden, Respectable, Far Away Eyes, Love In Vain, Band Introduction, Shattered, Tumbling Dice, Happy, Brown Sugar, Jumpin' Jack Flash, Encore:, Street Fighting Man.
The show is also special for the fact that this would be the live debut of the SOME
GIRLS tracks.]
"I could usually tell how well a filming was going to be
within the first few minutes. Some bands were tired and just going
through the motions, while others gave it all they had and they were the most fun to film.
All performers (musicians or whoever) were usually making eye contact
with the audience in the first few rows, then after that it's pretty much a blur.
Because I was so close to the stage, not only were they
making eye contact with me, but some knew they were being filmed and PLAYED to me!
One band that
did this was Uriah Heep."
"While John Lawton [the lead vocalist] didn't stray too far from his center stage position, Mick Box [lead guitar] was all over the place. Mick was always smiling at me and one time he finished a guitar lick and jumped right down in front of me and pointed at me. I prayed that I would get this on film and I did!"
"Ken Hensley [keyboards] had on these white knee high boots with 4 inch heels and he had this huge synthesizer/organ combo resting on his thigh rocking it back & forth, just tearing it up. Well, after someone else's solo when he came back to his instrument, he shouted something at me & threw the towel from around his neck at me. Ken was just having a great time and so was I."
"Days later, when I got back my processed film, I was amazed at how much 'personality' these guys gave of themselves to the fans & myself. This is one of my most memorable filming experiences."
"I also had some serious eye contact going with Buck Dharma of Blue Oyster Cult at one performance. This was another mystical moment."
"Let me relate some highlights about the first concert I filmed. I had purchased my camera earlier in the day, along with 5 rolls of film. My friends and I arrived at venue, which was Dorton Arena in Raleigh, NC. The line up for that evening was Rick Derringer, The Outlaws and Foghat. Before the show, I connected with a friend, whom was also the shows promoter, got some passes and told him about my new camera. I asked him if it would be alright to film the show. He replied, 'Sure, let me get you some seats....' Well, we walked around in front of the stage and surprise, surprise! The stage is merely 30 inches off the floor and there is a 2 ft high barrier about 5 ft from the stage. The promoter orders the security guys in that small area to go and get CHAIRS for me and my 4 friends. The security guys retrieved the chairs, we sat down and they reassumed their positions between the barrier & stage."
"The house lights go off, stage lights go on and out out steps Rick Derringer and BANG, he starts rockin'! From where I'm sitting, just 5 feet away , he might as well be playing for me in my living room. All the fans in the arena are screamin' and rockin' and STANDING and I'm sitting in my seat filming! What a life! So now Rick's set is over and next up were The Outlaws. It was more of the same up-front-in-you-face-rock-and-roll and I'm just coolin' my jets filming."
And last to go on were
Foghat.
After I had finished off the last of my 5 rolls of film, some fan in front of Foghat's lead guitar
player [Rod Price] throws either a beer or soda on him while he's playing.
Now keep in mind that Rod was fully plugged in and could have been electrocuted on the spot.
He stopped playing, calmly walked behind this huge bank of amps, while his roadies strap & plug him into another guitar and he's back in 30 seconds
flat! The next thing we saw was a group of roadies perched up on the amps 12 feet high, waiting to dive
into the crowd & kill the next asshole that tries that stunt again."
"A little later, I wandered backstage to talk with the promoter. We were standing behind those same banks of amplifiers that the roadies had taken up position on. During the Roger Earl's drum solo, Rod Price steps back to take a short break. I made eye contact with him and say "Sorry" and he just shrugs his shoulders, kind of 'smiles' and give me a look like 'shit happens' and it's back out to shred his axe some more. Now that's dedication!"
"Days later, after my film processes, I'm viewing it and it's like watching TV! It was amazing to me to see how close I was to them! After that I was hooked. I never had another opportunity like that to sit & film, but I will always remember that night."
Rob's Visit & The Private Screening
On April 20th, I finally had the pleasure of meeting Steve Cowart in person at his home in Florida. We spent the next 8 or 9 hours chatting about old rock shows and getting acquainted. He hauled out his old 8mm projector into the living room and we watched rock history unfold on his wall! While we didn't have time to screen all of his films, he did show me a choice selection of his work.
We first watched the Foghat, which was closeup and personal! Steve gave me the background on that show as we watched the film. We also paid tribute to the memory of "Lonesome Dave" as well. We also looked at some vintage footage of Heart, which was a little dark in places, but certainly one of their early tours. Anne was playing her flute during one songs and they also brought mandolins out during another. On that same reel was Cheap Trick circa 1977 and Boston from the same year! I was more enthralled by the footage of Uriah Heep, which was absolutely classic stuff from the FIREFLY tour. Great closeup's of Mick Box and Ken Hensley here and 30+ minutes of footage! Yes, my jaw dropped to the floor!
Keep in mind that most of these were permission filmed. In other words, these were done from excellent vantage points, often directly in front of or ON the stage. Also, Steve was a steady and intuitive camera person, so there's none of that "seasick" type of footage that we all dread. It was cool to compare notes with him about filming shows and how it has changed between then and now. The only issue I could find with the films is the obvious problem of "aging", which is unavoidable in the analog medium. I noticed a slight reddish tint in some of the footage, but this correctable in a digital editing suite. The Rolling Stones footage had a bit more "spottiness" towards the end of that footage, but Steve said this had occurred when the original film was processed. I didn't feel that any of the defects were particularly bothersome, but they were a reminder of the limited mortality of 8mm film!
Steve told me one story about some film reels that never quite made it back during processing. Since the 8mm film reels were quite short (approximately 5-8 minutes), he would have to bring several along to have enough film to capture most of a concert. For some of his longer films (like Blue Oyster Cult), I think he said he brought along a dozen reels! Anyhow, on this one occasion in 1977, he dropped off three reels of a show he had done. When he came to pick them up, he was told that they were defective and all of the footage was lost. The band he filmed was Queen!! Can you imagine how cool that footage would be to see now? We both speculated that the film may not have been defective at all and some film clerk could have made quite the score that night. So, if anyone knows of any Super 8 footage from '77 done in Florida....
Finally, we reached the grand moment where put on the sacred reel from Fayetteville, NC 1/30/77. You've got to remember that each 8mm film has to be completely rewound before another can be mounted...and the rewind function on these machines is SLOW! And to add to the dramatic tension of finally seeing a '77 film of Sabbath, we had to sit through his footage of the opening act - Dr. Hook?! These guys looked like they were having some sort of hoedown onstage that night, dancing around in circles and just whoopin' it up. We had to laugh at this a bit and reflected on the fact that such a mismatched pairing would probably not happen in this day and age of "genres". But we both agreed that concerts were much more interesting when both bands didn't sound so much alike.
The
Sabbath footage was definitely worth the wait! The film starts with Steve
filming from the left side facing the stage, with Geezer slapping away right in
front of him. Tony was in the middle, with his aluminum cross glowing in
the spotlights. And off on far stage left was Ozzy! The Ozzman was
dressed in his silly cape outfit with his name written in sparkles on his
chest. He was there right next to Tony, mimicking Tony's guitarisms and
even giving us one of his trademark frog jumps! Steve was critical of his
footage of Bill, but I thought you could see him quite well. Even at the
running time of only 13 minutes, it seemed a whole lot longer than that while
watching it. It's priceless stuff that I hope each of you is able to see
for yourselves someday in the near future...
