The Smiley Smile Message Board

I just put some of my shaky super 8 BB movies on YOUTUBE ,it has Blondie on it so is it 73 or 74?
My memory is weak . Tickets were 6 ,5 , 4 dollars!
Those were the days!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c94dsOzkWRU

Definitely no later than '73 (Blondie left at the end of that year).

The BBs played the Omni in 1973. They played the Atlanta Municipal Auditorium in 1974, so the footage is gotta be '73. One of the opening acts was some guy named Bruce Springsteen. ;D

Thanks for posting footage from a hometown show, Ray! It's nice to see something from a show I actually attended.

I'm always so envious of those of you who got to chance to see that band in that period..
Makes me wish that I was much older and American..

Thanks for sharing this!

Thank you for posting this !!

I like that Mike's not doing the moves he's known for.....

April 11th, 1973... and the images may be a little blurry, but the audio is just dandy !  ;)

Interesting. Where the audio comes from?

Cool - it's like seeing the photos from IN CONCERT come to life briefly!

Ive got bout 8 minutes more.Plus a couple oher showa from that period. Ill try to knock those out ,iffin you wanna see em!

Cool stuff, no doubt about it. 
Did you sync the audio track later from another source? (they definitely don't seem to be playing the same song we're hearing)

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Thanks - that was very cool!  ;)

And those great ticket prices...now six bucks won't even buy you a beer!

Cool footage!
First time I saw the band was 12/73 & tickets were $4.50!  Still have the stub some where.

Man, how great to see footage from that time, and that night specifically...  I remember first standing at CNN Center, (my brother-in-law is the head audio guy at CNN), and being told it was the site of the old Omni.  I immediately flashed to this concert, and this night; what a great show, and great memory of tearing up Atlanta until dawn...
After you post the other 8 minutes, be sure and put up your footage of the opening act, too!  ;) ;)
Seriously, I could kick myself for the missed opportunities of shooting either stills, video, or film of various opening acts like Springsteen.  A typical scenario for me was walking into the back of an auditorium or stadium with Dennis, seeing & hearing someone like Billy Joel, or maybe the Doobie Brothers on stage, and having Dennis yank me by the arm, and say, "They suck!  Let's see what's happening backstage!"  Ah, to have been able to be two places at once...

Thanks for sharing, astroray. Great to see this footage of the group when they were at their very (live) best. Ah, if only those super 8 recordings could've also record audio...


EDIT: just found out that somewhere in '73 Kodak actually released a sound on film version of super 8. Just too late...

Hi Ed,

I always enjoyour posts. As a long time Billy Joel fan, I have often read things about Billy opening up for The Beach Boys in the 70s. Do you have any info on how the off stage relationship was between he and the band? Did he hang out or party with Dennis and or Brian for example? Thanks again for all the great posts!

Unfortunately, what I said is about the extent of my Billy Joel memory - and I have no idea in what city this occurred.  I actually discovered more than I could believe about this time from a few brief pages in Jerry Schilling's excellent book, "Me and a Guy Named Elvis".  Hadn't recalled that this is where Jerry came to us from - as Billy Joel's tour manager!  To tell the truth, opening acts are a bit of major blockage in my memories, for a variety of reasons.  There was that period -(was it '76, A.G.D.?)- when The Boys were doing 2 shows in 2 different cities every night, flying on a charter jet between shows.  I was shooting early video of these shows, and they'd build a wooden riser wherever I wanted to shoot video from before the doors opened, then I'd retire & prepare for the show with DW.  Never even knew who was opening, until years later, reading old itineraries & posts on message boards...  Can you imagine how I wanted to kick myself, for so many reasons?
Fortunately this wasn't always the case, and I do have some great memories, and sometimes some great photos.  Probably more memories of these guys wanting to party with Dennis, though.  Which is also why I can't say he & Billy didn't become the best of friends, and party their asses off.  Especially if someone planted the idea in Dennis that Billy had something he wanted - he could become your best friend fast!  I never stop being surprised in hearing someone share a fond memory of Dennis, often being the last person I expect.  He was a hard guy not to love, though; he could so easily make people overlook anything.

Chip Rachlin told me that he was put Billy Joel on bills with the BBs after seeing him at some small venue and being knocked out by him-Billy opened for the BBs in 73-75 mostly.  He was supposed to play a bunch of shows with the BBs in 76 but now that I am looking at that period more in depth-I am not sure he actually played any shows with them in 76.

I think I saw Billy Joel open twice for the BB's ,once at Vanderbilt he was booed on stage ,did his Ray Charles impression and got the crowd back.
As far as the "Help Me Rhonda" on my Super8 footage .I lifted it off "The Zoo" show from1985 ,just to see how it worked.
Ive got more footage ,would you guys rather have sound or no sound?
Here is the poster from the show ,hanging on my wall!
(http://i54.tinypic.com/2dskzyg.jpg)
Looks like Bruce S. didnt get a chance to proof the poster!

What a kick in the bollocks that must be for the young Springstin...

i saw the beach boys april 1st 1975 in louisville, ky at freedom hall. billy joel opened the show. he was a total ass that night. stopped his show over a piano key out of tune. belittled stage hands over it. kept ranting and hitting the out of tune key over and over until it was fixed. yelled at his own band members. the crowd did not like all that. me..i kept waiting for him to play his song the entertainer..which i loved at that time. but he didn't impress that night.

Astroray, I've got an identical poster hanging in my office. People who see it usually either comment on the ticket prices or how the Boss' name is spelled.  ;D

I've got no problem with sound, even if it's not from the actual show. But do as you please.
Cool poster !
Shouldn't it be "Springstein"  :-D

Thanks Ed! Always great to read your posts!