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On July 5, 1968, Bill Graham opened The Fillmore West at 10 South Van Ness Ave. in San Francisco, California, and created one of the major influences on modern popular music.
Carousel Ballroom location
The venue was originally known as the El Patio Ballroom which opened in the late 20's. In the swing-era it became The Carousel Ballroom. It was owned by Bill Fuller who had similar venues in Chicago, New York, Boston, London, Manchester, England and throughout Ireland.
and was a dance palace that billed itself as "America's Finest
Ballroom." It was in the building with the Lachman Brothers Furniture
store.
Lachman Brothers Furniture Store - 1940's
photographer unknown
When I was a little kid I
remember seeing the Lachman Brothers sign that had the soldier with a
clock in his belly and thought that was totally cool. I recall taking my mom's alarm clock, putting it in my shirt, opening the buttons in the front so that the face of the clock showed and marching around the house. Unfortunately, the last time I did that it fell out of my shirt and the glass face broke; I got in deep doo for that.
Lachman Brothers Furniture Store - January 12, 1956
San Francisco Historical Photograph Collection
San Francisco Historical Photograph Collection
Carousel Ballroom ~ Allman Brothers
photographer unknown
Carousel Ballroom
Mike Bloomfield, Chicago
photographer unknown
Independent from Bill Graham, beginning in 1968, it was briefly operated by a collective formed by the Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, Quicksilver Messenger Service and Big Brother and the Holding Company as a social/musical "laboratory experiment". According to critic Joel Selvin, the "six-month run may well have corresponded with the height of the whole '60s Haight-Ashbury/San Francisco thing."
On the opening weekend, March 13 & 14, 1968, the Grateful Dead and the Jefferson Airplane performed. The following weekend, Chuck Berry and Buffalo Springfield performed. Tim Buckley played there on June 15 and 16, 1968.
Harry James, the great trumpeter from the forties, performed at the location when it was called the El Patio Ballroom.
Due to various factors (including the socioeconomic deterioration
of the Fillmore District, the modest capacity of The Fillmore, and
financial difficulties faced by the collective), Bill Graham moved his
prime concert location in July 1968 to the Carousel Ballroom venue, less than one
mile from the original Fillmore at 1805 Geary Boulevard. He called this venue the Fillmore West (in contrast with Graham's Fillmore East auditorium in New York City)
Viewfinder links:
Net links:
Chicken on a Unicycle ~ Carousel Ballroom
Dead Sources ~ 1968: The Carousel Ballroom, San Francisco
Jerry's Brokendown Palaces ~ Carousel Ballroom (Fillmore West)
YouTube links:
Styrous® ~ Monday, June 5, 2021
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