In the summer of 1973, two young concert promoters sold 150,000 tickets for a day of fun and music in upstate New York, featuring The Grateful Dead, The Allman Brothers, and The Band. When 600,000 young hippies unexpectedly descended upon the sleepy town of Watkins Glen, Jim Koplik and Shelly Finkel knew they needed to brace for something much bigger. 50 years later, they've joined forces with a group of veteran filmmakers to create the definitive film about the 1973 Summer Jam at Watkins Glen.
ABOUT THE MUSIC
FOR THE 3 BANDS, IT WAS AN ERA OF GREAT SUCCESS, SIGNIFICANT TRAGEDY, AND SOME REINVENTION:
The Grateful Dead was coming off their epic triple album, Europe '72. They had become new crusaders of improvisational jam, with large groups of fans in the US now following the band from live show to live show. They tragically lost their keyboardist Ron "Pigpen" McKernan in early 1973.'The Dead were reluctant to play large outdoor festivals after negative experiences at Woodstock and Altamont, but trusted the promoters to stage Summer Jam.
​​The Allman Brothers Band had lost two founding members, Duane Allman and Berry Oakley, in motorcycle crashes just a year apart. They added keyboardist Chuck Leavell and bassist Lamar Williams. The new lineup would produce the critically acclaimed, Brothers and Sisters, which they previewed at Summer Jam just weeks before its official release. They were voted by Rolling Stone Magazine as Band of the Year in 1973.
The Band was truly at a crossroads. Some insist they were in shambles. Torn apart by drug abuse and internal bickering, they had not played a live show in over a year. Jerry Garcia's support was just what they needed. He recommended that The Band should replace Leon Russell on the bill. The promoters agreed, so Sam Cutler met with them at their home in Woodstock to make it happen.
ABOUT THE VENUE
Jim Koplik & Shelly Finkel chose Watkins Glen Grand Prix Raceway for Summer Jam because of its wide open spaces, and because it was able to handle huge crowds. It's located in the Finger Lakes region of upstate New York at the southern tip of Lake Seneca. They hired the legendary Bill Graham to handle key elements like creating a giant stage, an enormous sound system, and the most elaborate backstage village for the bands anyone had ever seen - with air conditioning, a swimming pool, cocaine trailers, and helipads... and there was certainly no shortage of groupies.
​SOME OF THE INNOVATIONS
DELAY TOWERS: This was the first event to place speakers at varying intervals from the stage to compensate for the speed of sound in the air. A New Jersey electronics company called Eventide brought in digital delay lines which allowed the speaker towers to be strategically placed around the venue. This meant the people up front were not blasted, and the people in the back also enjoyed a high-fidelity experience. All of the sound was artfully timed to coincide perfectly to prevent echo and reverberation. This became a standard for shows of this type. And it all began at Watkins Glen.
© Eventide Audio
THE BEGINNING OF THE WALL OF SOUND: Bill Graham and his company, FM Productions, worked with the Grateful Dead sound crew to create a super-powerful, extremely accurate PA system with a massive wall of speaker arrays set behind the musicians, which they controlled separately from the front-of-house mixer. As The Grateful Dead Road Manager, Sam Cutler confirmed, this was actually the first iteration of the famous, Grateful Dead Wall of Sound.
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© Eventide Audio
DID YOU KNOW?
THE SOUND CHECK: The Grateful Dead's sound-check the day before the show was enjoyed by 200,000 fans and lasted two hours! As Allman Brothers Manager, Bunky Odom told us, it was like the crowd got two concerts. Fans who were there will remember that throughout that legendary sound-check, Jerry said, half-jokingly into his microphone, "Remember - this is only a test."
THE PIRATE RADIO STATION: John Ramsey, Jack Chamberlain, and Mike Kirven were young radio geeks from West Hartford, CT. They devised a scheme where they would show up several days before the show, somehow get in, and set up a pirate radio station in a Winnebago near the stage. They pulled it off and word about it spread quickly. They played records & did interviews with guests including Bob Weir. They also helped the NY State Police broadcast essential public information and traffic reports. They even managed to get a transmitter on stage to send live music over the air.
JOHN RAMSEY
BOB WEIR
CONCERT FREE RADIO
MCINTOSH TO THE RESCUE: The size of the crowd grew so large that there was concern whether they had sufficient amplification. Fortunately, McIntosh Labs, which was respected by the sound team because of its stellar audio products, was located in Binghamton, only 60 miles away. But the roads were jammed. Sam Cutler commandeered a helicopter for Jim Furman, from the Grateful Dead crew, to fly to McIntosh Labs. It was closed for the weekend, but McIntosh opened their factory and Jim pulled amps directly off the line and loaded them onto the helicopter, which was now above its weight limit. Fortunately, Jim and the McIntosh amps arrived back at the track in time, safely, the amplification was improved, and the rest, as they say, is history.
