Video: A Trip to Watkins Glen For Summer Jam ’73
Bring up the date July 28, 1973 and there is a certain percentage of music fans that will immediately know its significance, as it saw three of the most iconic and influential bands of all-time – the Grateful Dead, the Allman Brothers and The Band – perform at the Watkins Glen Grand Prix Raceway for Summer Jam ’73. While there’s been plenty written about this historic concert, which reportedly drew a larger crowd than Woodstock, we’ve got a pretty cool homemade video to share with you today from a group of friends that documented their journey to the fest from Chicago. The nine-minute documentary of sorts, has some fantastic visuals from their road trip, as well as some shots of the Dead and The Band on stage, with the narrator chronicling the entire thing. Let’s check it out…
Jeffrey Greenblatt
Jeff joined the Hidden Track team full-time in 2008 and helps guide the site in his role as Managing Editor and Social Media Coordinator. Each week Jeff pens Pullin' 'Tubes, Tour Dates and Bloggy Goodness in addition to features, video posts and more. Jeff is a graduate of The George Washington University ('98), with a B.A. in Journalism, and has worked in the media and technology industry for the likes of Scripps Networks Interactive, MTV, VH1, A&E and Joost.
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Jeffrey, thanks for the post. I shot it on Super 8 film, converted it to video about 20 years ago and promptly lost it. Discovered the video this past Christmas while looking for seasonal decorations in my basement. Put it together with my son. Best part: within a day of posting it on Youtube, I heard from three of the people in the film, one of whom was trawling for Dead material when he found it. btw, almost all the audio is from the soundcheck or the show.
pb
Thanks for sharing Pat! It such a great treat for those of use who weren’t even born yet when this happened, and also great to see that as much as things have changed in the last 35+ years, they’ve also stayed the same. – JG
I was at this show and my memories were a bit sketchy but you video help jar them. Thank you.