Woodstock was “one of a kind” and will always be remembered by fans of Rock & Roll. Hard to believe it was 40 years ago. I still play the soundtrack often. Some, if not all, of the performances were legendary. Richie Havens “Here comes the sun”, Canned Heat “Going up the Country”, Arlo, Janis, Sly, 10 Years After, and one of my favorites “County Joe’s "Give me an F” war protest song. Those of us that missed going to Woodstock still remembers what we were doing or where we were those 4 days. “Love & Peace” had a meaning. After that is seems that concerts like Altamont in N. California were all too common. All too violent.
John & I tried to re-create that love & peace feeling at the Capitol. Not sure about the later years but the few years I was involved I think we were successful. Bill Graham left the NY area and closed the Fillmore and we tried to pick up right where he left off…
I know you “can’t ever go back” but we can still remember!!
Al
I am a Realtor working and living in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. Married for over 25 years to Barbara who worked in the box office at the Capitol Theatre. Son Jim produces concerts and shows in clubs throughout South Florida.
Am happy to be out of the concert business. With big corporations like Live Nation controlling everything the concert business is not the same. I remember putting our tickets for sale in “head shops” and music stores in NJ. This was before Ticketron. John would call the head shops and music stores to get an idea of what acts might sell tickets.
Two shows a night at the Capitol with 3,000 seats and tickets $3.50 to $5.50 each was only 35 years ago but in the music business that is a “lifetime”.
Al Hayward
Am I missing something but I did have something to do with the founding and success of the Capitol. After listening to John’s interview I get the feeling that he is on such an ego trip that he has forced himself to forget how it all started. (Amy was there, she knows)
It is remarkable how John Scher has forgotten his roots. Maybe it is some form of memory loss disease. I am looking at a copy of a full page story and photo from the Sunday Star Ledger dated Oct 8, 1972. The headline is “Sher & Hayward, Pop producers creating N.J.’s own Fillmore.â€
Some of the quotes of the story are:
Scher is half of the team of John Scher & Al Haywood (Hayward) Presents.
They have been making realities in the last year- such as creating New Jersey’s own version of a Fillmore East.
Last winter John and Al presented 25 shows at the Capitol, this fall they bought it.
They hope to make it another Fillmore, the first permanent showcase for pop entertainment in New Jersey.
They got together a couple of years ago when both were producing shows at South Mountain Arena.
John deals with the acts and Al takes care of the other business, including booking places and advertising.
Etc, Etc.
Why is it that John Scher never mentions me any of his interviews or stories. When I met John he was working for Monarch Entertainment booking shows in small colleges. He also did weddings and Bar Mitzvah (Mr Jiggs was one of his acts). I had just finished promoting 5 shows (Sly, Chuck Berry, 4 Seasons, 10 Years After, Al Cooper-Butterfield Blues Band) at the South Mountain Arena in West Orange. We became partners soon after that and then WE opened the Capitol Theatre.
Last week I was interviewed by phone for a couple of hours about the Capitol Theatre. The writter is doing a book about the Capitol and Bruce’s show there. I will post more info on the book as it developes.
My wife Barbara worked in the box office at the Capitol. Her girlfriend Debbie was the back stage hostess. They both went to a show at the Central Theater. It was not put on by John or me as she remembers me telling her she should not be going to shows run by the competition. It may have been Ron Delsner or Howard Stein. Both were running shows in NY about the same time John and I opened the Capitol. She remembers seeing Dave Mason at the Central.
As for filming shows at the Capitol- as far as I remember they were not done while I was partners with John. He may have started doing filming after we split up in 1973. And John was not managing the Dead while we were partners. We produced the Dead twice while we were partners. Once at the Capitol and once at Roosevelt Stadium in Jersey City. Both I think were in 1972.
I believe there were some concerts in Jersey City about this time. Rod Stewart and Faces comes to mind as one. I think the theater was called the Stanley. Neither John or myself had anything to do with the shows in Jersey City.
I never ran any shows in the Central Theater. John may have before we were partners but I don’t think so. If I remember right (this was a long time ago) John ran a few small shows at the Embasy Theater in Orange, NJ. Don’t think he did the shows at the Central.
After the Fillmore East Closed in NY John Scher and I were looking for a theatre to run concerts in. We had produced concerts in colleges and outdoor stadiums. One problem was that all the movie theatres had contracts with the movie distributors and had to show the films on weekends. That is when we wanted to run concerts. One day an assistant of ours- Barry Katcher- called me and said he found the perfect theatre. It was in Passaic, NJ. I met Barry there and saw the Capitol for the first time. What made it perfect, other than the 3140 seats was that they were showing X rated films. The people operating the Theatre paid a flat fee for the films and did not have to even show them. I called John he met us at the Theatre. He loved the layout with all the seats on one level. We opened rented the Theatre for concerts from the people that were showing the X rated films. This was 1971 and the first show if I remember was Humble Pie and J. Geils Band. John booked the acts and I did the advertising & promotions. We did 2 shows a night on some weekends and the theatre operators ran their X Rated films at other times. It was a strange relationship. Then in 1972 John and I bought the theatre from Dr. Samuel Harris. We took over the adjacent stores also. We had to honor the lease that the X rated film people had so they still showed films when we did not have a concert. Porno films and Rock Concerts- strangely enough we were not the city of Passaic’s favorite business. John and I split up a few years later and he ran shows at the Capitol until the theatre clossed.
Anyone know why the Dead were not in the original movie or on the CD?
Woodstock was “one of a kind” and will always be remembered by fans of Rock & Roll. Hard to believe it was 40 years ago. I still play the soundtrack often. Some, if not all, of the performances were legendary. Richie Havens “Here comes the sun”, Canned Heat “Going up the Country”, Arlo, Janis, Sly, 10 Years After, and one of my favorites “County Joe’s "Give me an F” war protest song. Those of us that missed going to Woodstock still remembers what we were doing or where we were those 4 days. “Love & Peace” had a meaning. After that is seems that concerts like Altamont in N. California were all too common. All too violent.
John & I tried to re-create that love & peace feeling at the Capitol. Not sure about the later years but the few years I was involved I think we were successful. Bill Graham left the NY area and closed the Fillmore and we tried to pick up right where he left off…
I know you “can’t ever go back” but we can still remember!!
Al
I am a Realtor working and living in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. Married for over 25 years to Barbara who worked in the box office at the Capitol Theatre. Son Jim produces concerts and shows in clubs throughout South Florida.
Am happy to be out of the concert business. With big corporations like Live Nation controlling everything the concert business is not the same. I remember putting our tickets for sale in “head shops” and music stores in NJ. This was before Ticketron. John would call the head shops and music stores to get an idea of what acts might sell tickets.
Two shows a night at the Capitol with 3,000 seats and tickets $3.50 to $5.50 each was only 35 years ago but in the music business that is a “lifetime”.
Al Hayward
[CapitolTheatrePassaic] “A Conversation with John Scher"
This is on the Bergen Record’s web site and was produced
by them.
View link
Am I missing something but I did have something to do with the founding and success of the Capitol. After listening to John’s interview I get the feeling that he is on such an ego trip that he has forced himself to forget how it all started. (Amy was there, she knows)
It is remarkable how John Scher has forgotten his roots. Maybe it is some form of memory loss disease. I am looking at a copy of a full page story and photo from the Sunday Star Ledger dated Oct 8, 1972. The headline is “Sher & Hayward, Pop producers creating N.J.’s own Fillmore.â€
Some of the quotes of the story are:
Scher is half of the team of John Scher & Al Haywood (Hayward) Presents.
They have been making realities in the last year- such as creating New Jersey’s own version of a Fillmore East.
Last winter John and Al presented 25 shows at the Capitol, this fall they bought it.
They hope to make it another Fillmore, the first permanent showcase for pop entertainment in New Jersey.
They got together a couple of years ago when both were producing shows at South Mountain Arena.
John deals with the acts and Al takes care of the other business, including booking places and advertising.
Etc, Etc.
Why is it that John Scher never mentions me any of his interviews or stories. When I met John he was working for Monarch Entertainment booking shows in small colleges. He also did weddings and Bar Mitzvah (Mr Jiggs was one of his acts). I had just finished promoting 5 shows (Sly, Chuck Berry, 4 Seasons, 10 Years After, Al Cooper-Butterfield Blues Band) at the South Mountain Arena in West Orange. We became partners soon after that and then WE opened the Capitol Theatre.
Al Hayward
Last week I was interviewed by phone for a couple of hours about the Capitol Theatre. The writter is doing a book about the Capitol and Bruce’s show there. I will post more info on the book as it developes.
My wife Barbara worked in the box office at the Capitol. Her girlfriend Debbie was the back stage hostess. They both went to a show at the Central Theater. It was not put on by John or me as she remembers me telling her she should not be going to shows run by the competition. It may have been Ron Delsner or Howard Stein. Both were running shows in NY about the same time John and I opened the Capitol. She remembers seeing Dave Mason at the Central.
As for filming shows at the Capitol- as far as I remember they were not done while I was partners with John. He may have started doing filming after we split up in 1973. And John was not managing the Dead while we were partners. We produced the Dead twice while we were partners. Once at the Capitol and once at Roosevelt Stadium in Jersey City. Both I think were in 1972.
I believe there were some concerts in Jersey City about this time. Rod Stewart and Faces comes to mind as one. I think the theater was called the Stanley. Neither John or myself had anything to do with the shows in Jersey City.
I never ran any shows in the Central Theater. John may have before we were partners but I don’t think so. If I remember right (this was a long time ago) John ran a few small shows at the Embasy Theater in Orange, NJ. Don’t think he did the shows at the Central.
After the Fillmore East Closed in NY John Scher and I were looking for a theatre to run concerts in. We had produced concerts in colleges and outdoor stadiums. One problem was that all the movie theatres had contracts with the movie distributors and had to show the films on weekends. That is when we wanted to run concerts. One day an assistant of ours- Barry Katcher- called me and said he found the perfect theatre. It was in Passaic, NJ. I met Barry there and saw the Capitol for the first time. What made it perfect, other than the 3140 seats was that they were showing X rated films. The people operating the Theatre paid a flat fee for the films and did not have to even show them. I called John he met us at the Theatre. He loved the layout with all the seats on one level. We opened rented the Theatre for concerts from the people that were showing the X rated films. This was 1971 and the first show if I remember was Humble Pie and J. Geils Band. John booked the acts and I did the advertising & promotions. We did 2 shows a night on some weekends and the theatre operators ran their X Rated films at other times. It was a strange relationship. Then in 1972 John and I bought the theatre from Dr. Samuel Harris. We took over the adjacent stores also. We had to honor the lease that the X rated film people had so they still showed films when we did not have a concert. Porno films and Rock Concerts- strangely enough we were not the city of Passaic’s favorite business. John and I split up a few years later and he ran shows at the Capitol until the theatre clossed.