Just getting through this life is enough of a challenge but from an editorial standpoint, a precise documentation of life could be the even greater challenge. It's called history and the scribe who takes it upon his or her self to cover a subject in depth is really ‘on the hook’ to get it right.  After all, the reader today becomes the believer tomorrow, no pressure.  I’m not a historian; just an observer with opinions. I tell it as I remember it and comment on it.  My recall is good and yet like all of us, there’s times and places that completely elude me.  That’s when I contact my musician buddies, Allen Henninger from The Bush and Bob Anglin from The Light, or Ugly Things magazine editor/publisher, Mike Stax.  One or the other of them fills in the blanks. Thanks, guys.

Remembering the Inland Empire - 1964-1968
Southern California’s “Inland Empire”, the San Bernardino and Riverside area, was known for good bands and musicians in the '60s, a number of who went on to achieve success.  Concerts or clubs where these performers could be heard in their pre-famous days were scattered about and you might travel miles to get from one ‘happening’ to another.  I can’t call to mind an Inland Empire club ‘scene’ unless perhaps someone was willing to drive for miles in dot connecting fashion between the two large counties and create their own scene.   

San Bernardino in the early '60s was a blue collar town.  Kaiser Steel Mill in Fontana, the Santa Fe Railroad, and Norton Air Force Base provided many jobs for a huge influx of middle class people. The music du jour was primarily country and western.  If you went out for an evening of dinner, drinks and dancing, you went to a honky-tonk club.  Through the mid-'60s, named country entertainers would show up at small dinner theaters and beer bars in the San Bernardino area.  ‘All American’ radio station KRNO hosted many of the country stars who came to town.  From 1964 through mid-1965, I was drumming for my surf band, The Defiants and was also a DJ at KVCR radio in San Bernardino. Country music pretty much dominated the format and only singers such as Johnny Mathis, Jerry Vale, Perry Como or daring newcomer, Tom Jones, were the acceptable deviation.  I was not allowed to play The Beatles, Rolling Stones, Dave Clark Five, or any British beat music. 

By 1966 that all changed; the Invasion having prevailed even in the Inland Empire.  But venues for original groups were few and far between.  Large places like the Civic Auditorium in downtown San Bernardino and the National Guard Armory in Riverside were home to Dick Dale and The Del-Tones who hosted ‘Surfers Stomps’ as early as 1963. Another large arena sized place, the Swing Auditorium, centerpiece for the National Orange Show, brought in big names once a year to headline the annual citrus event. Eventually it became an outlet for ongoing rock concerts. This is where The Bush opened for The Stones on their first ‘official’ U.S. tour in 1965. The Kaiser Dome, where the Light opened for The Doors in 1967, was near the Swing also on the Orange Show grounds and had concerts on a regular basis.  

In the nearby mountain resorts, Lake Arrowhead Village had a pavilion overlooking the lake that featured headliner pop groups and there was a small rock club called the Back Door adjacent to it. Over time there were more small clubs, beer bars like the Hofbrau, King of Hearts and the Knight Club, where young local musician Sammy Hagar honed his craft with cover tunes.  Later on, Harry's Roller Rink, a landmark roller skate palace and the Branding Iron, both on South ‘E’ Street, San Berdoo’s main cruiser route, hosted some original pop bands, though the Branding Iron was mostly country music.  But the biggest plus for San Bernardino in the mid-'60s was the two, highly competitive rock stations, KFXM and KMEN, referred to as, “pirate stations” because they played songs that had yet to enter into L.A. rotation. This worked great for local original bands.

Riverside was a bit more contemporary with concert halls and numerous clubs where aspiring bands or big name groups could be heard.  It seemed like Riverside had more outlets for rockers than its country cousin across the Main Street wash.  There was a State College in Riverside, the University of California at Riverside (UCR), which had a large concentration of the young and the restless in need of entertainment.  Starting from UCR, which held concerts regularly, and moving west, given the span of years 1965 through 1968, one could find the Hi Ho Club, the Hat Factory, the Gasser, the Mystic Eye, the Purple Haze, and other clubs whose names escape me.  Although this was not an official scene or strip, these places both appeased the nocturnal party animals and were a proving ground for some very good original bands of the time like The Misunderstood, Buddy Reed’s Southside Blues Band and The Whatt Four, to name a few. The Bush also fared well in Riverside.

For more read, please click on 60sgaragebands.com .