Revisiting California Jam I

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

 

Original ad from Rolling Stone magazine - March, 1974. Click to see a larger version of this picture.

 

Although Black Sabbath had been touring the United States since October of 1970, it was this one appearance that really escalated their profile in America.  It placed them on stage in front of the largest audience they had ever faced at that point in their career - over 400,000 people.  Their audience was multiplied many times over when ABC-TV broadcast several segments in May 1974 that included portions of their performance.  Be sure to have a look through the articles and links below for more on this highly significant event in Sabbath's career.

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.  This is one of the best articles I've been able to find about this show to date.  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 Wereo Of It All: A Sabbathlive classic!  Back in 2003, I conducted this interview with Cal Jam's biggest fan, Scott Lifshine.  His incessant newsgroup sermons about his "blessed Wereo" amused as many people as they irritated.  Since then, Scott has also been kind enough to sing the praises of Sabbathlive as well.  With that said, I don't believe any Cal Jam feature would be complete without him!

 

 

Tycobrahe Sound Co. And The California Jam: Article about the mighty P.A. system that was used for the concert.  (Thanks to Scott Lifshine)

California Jam At Ontario: An Aristrocrat Among Rock Concerts:  From the Los Angeles Times - 4/7/74.  Submitted by Bryan Berry

More California Jam Articles, Pictures & Memorabilia