ROIO of the Week [Recordings of Indeterminate Origin]

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The Long Haul
Santana, Steve Miller Band, Chicago
Beacon Theater, NYC 1975 [Seagull, 2CD]
Live at the Beacon Theater, NYC, April 11, 12, 13, 1975.

Woodstock had morphed into the self-destructive Altamont but worse still was the ennui that set in after the Vietnam War ended [shall we all agree to April 30, 1975?]. A generation that had grown up under the influence of Aquarius had to figure which way to go? Follow in their fathers' footsteps or carry on and make their own road.

This set of three shows are all taken from three nights at the Beacon Theatre in New York City, a three night stand by Santana, Chicago and the Steve Miller Band on April 11-13, 1975, two weeks before the fall of Saigon to North Vietnam's Democratic Republic of Vietnam.

What would you play? Chicago sound the most lifeless. Having spent a greater part of their recording career writing political songs, they had just released Chicago VIII, and by then Chicago were cruising as a pop-rock band following single after single on the hit formula they hit on with Saturday In The Park in 1972. Since then, Chicago have never looked back on their earlier, harder albums. Terry Kath accidentally killed himself in 1978. The only rocker in the band was permanently removed.

Santana was probably the bigger draw in 1975 but by then had the heavy Latino-rock reputation to carry. Although Carlos was a very modern and forward looking musician, his fans were not. Albums like Caravanserai and Borboletta were released and ignored by the fans. Whenever he toured, all the fans wanted to hear were songs from the first three albums. Santana unable to convince his fans of his new music, did not disappoint. To his credit, Carlos went solo and made many beautiful albums after that. All were ignored by Santana fans.

The Steve Miller Band are the joker in the pack. Steve Miller, best known for his hits The Joker and Jet Airliner, was a dedicated musician who was taught by Les Paul. His first few albums all followed in the vein of '60s albums, psychedelic and socially aware - Children Of The Future and Brave New World. But by 1973, he tasted chart success with the single, The Joker, number 1 in the US. After that, all else was put on hold as Miller tried hard to follow on that success.

This collection of three shows offer a snapshot of just how far the socially relevant roar of late '60s rock had been transformed. Bands were all at the crossroads undecided which way to go. It wasn't until Peter Frampton's Frampton Comes Alive released January 6, 1976 that the choice was made.

That album sold millions and convinced the record company guy that he needed to hire rock bands with fresh-faced handsome guitarists with long blonde hair and a Colgate smile. Punk, indie and grunge have never been able to kill this corporate beast. But it looks like MP3s have brought music back to the crossroads again.
- Professor Red

Click on the highlighted tracks to download the MP3s (these are high quality, stereo MP3s - sample rate of 192 kibit/s). As far as we can ascertain, this recording has never been officially released.

Note: As some of the songs have been officially released, these tracks are now no longer available for download.

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August 10, 2007