Steppenwolf / Siegel-Schwall / Santana (opening)
FD-132 · Billy Glover
San Francisco
Siegel-Schwall Band
Santana
Steppenwolf opened at the Avalon with Siegel-Schwall and Santana, on FD-132.
"Born to Be Wild" was in the charts and about to be permanently welded to a motorcycle film not yet released. Steppenwolf were a Los Angeles band built out of the Toronto group Sparrow, fronted by John Kay, and they were on the exact cusp of the fame that would define them.
Santana, third-billed, appear here for the second time in a fortnight in the same position — under someone else, unrecorded, a local name. Three weeks later they would open the front half of BG-134 at the Fillmore West, on the poster whose lion became their first album cover.
Verification Notes
ANTAGONIST-CHECKED. 1968-08-09=Friday; OPENING of Steppenwolf / Siegel-Schwall Band / Santana at the Avalon, Aug 9-11, Billy Glover's FD-132 (titled 'Aurora'; Smithsonian American Art Museum holds it, dated 8/9-8/11/68; corroborated by Corry Arnold's Steppenwolf list). An EARLY third-billed Santana Avalon appearance -- barely a year into the band, pre-debut-album, a year before Woodstock. NOTE: FD-132 (Glover) != BG-132 (Conklin) -- same number, different series, same week. Co-lead of 08-09. COAU Family Dog index (Hannan/Arnold): 'August 9-11, 1968 / Avalon Ballroom / Steppenwolf, Siegal Schwall, Santana / FD-132'. Opening night. Billy Glover ('Aurora').
Were You There?
Do you have memories of this show, or an original FD-132 poster? On This Day in Art Rock History celebrates the people who lived through the psychedelic era. Your stories and collections matter to this archive.
Comments