One Fine Summer Day in June 1974

Our little group of not-yet-teens was walking through the park, probably acting like we owned the place, when a group of older dudes, having a good time as well, passed headed the other direction. After a few second delay, our group stopped and in unison said, "that was them," the swaggering group of "them" being the reason we were at the park on that day. It was, likely, the first time any of us had been that close to celebrities.

It was June of 1974, I was still a few months short of my twelfth birthday, but school was out for the summer, that period of ultimate freedom for a kid. Bo Donaldson and the Heywoods had released their version of Billy Don't Be a Hero (Paper Lace released their own version earlier in the year but it never gained traction against the Donaldson version), and in mid-June the Heywood's song reached the top spot on the Billboard Top 100 chart. At the same time, the band with its twenty year old lead singer began a two week stand at the Busch Gardens Amphitheater, three shows daily. Amusements parks had become lucrative venues for musical performers (Busch Gardens had opened their "summer concert series" with Lou Rawls) and Bo Donaldson and the Heywoods would follow their stand in Van Nuys with shows at Knott's Berry Farm and Disneyland. 

After all this time I no longer know who the instigator was, but someone in our little band of Sepulvedites got it in his head that we should not only go to Busch Gardens for a day, but do so entirely on our own - on our parents' dime, of course - but otherwise entirely on our own. That included getting there, and that meant by bike. We all rode, I mean who didn't at that time; the youngest members of our group would have been nine, and the oldest, I believe, thirteen. The problem, as we must have seen it, was to convince all the various parents involved of the merits of our little expedition. As it would turn out, the problem was no problem at all and one leisurely, late-start morning, probably a weekend, Robb, Stuart, Allen, Doug, myself, maybe Linda, Glenn, Tommy, Richard, Brad, Brett (it is a little hazy how many exactly went) mounted our Huffy's and Schwinn's, and after last minute admonishments to stay out of trouble, set off on the mile and a half ride along Nordhoff and Haskell to Busch Gardens. 

We got to the concert, ate some lunch, rode the log ride who knows how many times and, I'm pretty sure stayed out of trouble, then rode back home none the worse for wear. I've been keeping those good times rolling by bike ever since.

A couple years ago I shared something on another page that included a description of those concerts that had appeared in the Los Angeles Valley News: "...While some people would classify their music as 'bubble gum' music... The parents and senior citizens were rocking out almost as much as the teeny boppers when the group went into Edgar Winter's Free Ride, Mick Jagger's Happy and Sly's Higher. But, as expected, the biggest audience reaction came when Bo and the Heywoods played Billy Don't Be a Hero..."

The Amphitheatre, where Busch Gardens' world famous birds shows were also held

and yes I do still have a couple Bo Donaldson and the Heywoods' 78s