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Submitted by Jonathan Lane on

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Submitted by buddy plant on Mon, 04/14/2008 - 14:16

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This place started out life as a roller skating rink. Just down the hill from the Cliff House, and Sutro's, just before you get to Playland. It was an all wood building, and the sound here was real good. I lived very close to here on 42nd Ave, so I did spend a fair amount of time at this fine establishment. Many of the secrets of the Universe were revealed to me at Chet Helm's places...
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Submitted by docks of the city on Mon, 04/14/2008 - 21:20

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The dear Dog was located right across from Ocean Beach and like buddy plant said - just down from the Cliff House and Sutro's. I was still missing the old ballrooms, the Filmore and the Avalon so the building wasn't what I was used to. The size was right thou, and I will have to look in the concert lists to see if I heard the Dead there but I do remember a really nice night when Country Joe & the Fish played. No one hung around the Filmore, the Avalon, Winterland or the Carousel after a concert but a lot of people headed for the beach and the big parking lot up at Sutro's with the great view of the ocean crashing on the rocks and ruins below after a concert at the Family Dog. Meanwhile, in the park.............
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Submitted by Gypsy Cowgirl on Sat, 07/11/2009 - 22:38

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& don't forget....the parking lot overlooking where the Sutro Baths were was still dirt............Meanwhile, in the park...phase 2
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Submitted by docks of the city on Tue, 07/14/2009 - 19:17

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Hey Gypsy Cowgirl & Buddy, I think the Family Dog on the Great Highway was the building next door to the skating rink. Or maybe in better days (haha) part of it. I remember being down there one evening early and opened the door to the skating rink and there were hundreds of kids skating to James Brown. The skating rink was cookin'. The place didn't even look like it was open. I totally expected the door to be locked. You should have heard those skates hitting the ground to Brother James. Back to the park.............
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Submitted by Gypsy Cowgirl on Tue, 07/14/2009 - 22:08

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I remember only 1 building @ the Great Hwy. It's on the corner now/ empty lot....did you mean across the street? I also thought the skating rink was up above closer to above the Sutro Baths (but I could be wrong-as I was under 10 when skating)........Back to the park Phase 3

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Submitted by buddy plant on Thu, 07/16/2009 - 08:57

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...from a nonprofit site dedicated to preserving and sharing the history of western San Francisco neighborhoods. One person stated: If I recall, Skateland on Great Highway (next to Bull Pupp restaurant) turned into a slot car racing venue and then became the Family Dog. And here's another's opinion: Chet Helms moved his Family Dog concerts from the Avalon Ballroom to the former slot car racing track in summer 1969, where he operated for only one year as "Family Dog at the Beach" and "Family Dog on the Great Highway." And even more here (it's kinda quaint): On summer nights, fog hung in writhing sheets around the old building and the muffled roar of the breakers could be heard through the front door, just on the other side of the seawall. Venturing onto the beach for a night time smoke was, in the parlance of the time, really trippy. And just one more: No wonder Chet Helms briefly advertised the site as "Magic at the Edge of the Western World." So Docks, the skaters and the James Brown music? Could these have been ghosts of Playland's Past? From a time in our past? Were they ever there at all? LOL
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Submitted by Gypsy Cowgirl on Thu, 07/16/2009 - 12:00

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now googling for James Brown @ Family Dog......ahhhhh the summer of 1969.....good ole Panama Red......hehe.......BTW-FOG is still hanging.....place was very magical, that's for sure
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Submitted by Gypsy Cowgirl on Thu, 07/16/2009 - 12:01

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onto Phase 5 yet? thanks 4 the info Buddy....or are u over in the park again?
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Submitted by docks of the city on Thu, 07/16/2009 - 20:19

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I can't believe I'm so wrong on this one. I can see the Family Dog being a slot car place but it seems too small to have been the skating rink. Then I got to wonder what were all those kids doing skating after 8pm? I know the concerts were from like 9pm-2am. Jamaican. In the park. I guess you just had to be there (with Docks). Smokin'
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Submitted by grdaed73 on Thu, 07/16/2009 - 20:36

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it's ok! well ya know that all you see is not not real... in certain (ahem) circumstances ; )))of course on the other shoe... all that is real is revealed, if you look at it right! But everybody's acting lazy Falling out and hangin' 'round... you now who's back in town
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Submitted by Gypsy Cowgirl on Thu, 07/16/2009 - 23:27

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got a bumper sticker that says "Onward Thru the Fog"........meanwhile back in the park....Phase 6
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Submitted by docks of the city on Fri, 07/17/2009 - 22:09

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.........in the park. And Gypsy, go to outsidelands.org and their message boards and look up "Anyone remember Skateland". Yup, James Brown. Peace & Happiness from Docks in Phase 7 and climbing.

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Submitted by buddy plant on Fri, 07/17/2009 - 22:34

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... Phase one, in which Doris gets her oats...And shall we talk about the early days of Winterland? My grandparents took us there in the late Fifties, or the early Sixties to see either the Ice Follies, or the Ice Capades, I'm not sure which one. I liked the shows that Bill put on there MUCH better...
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Submitted by Gypsy Cowgirl on Sat, 07/18/2009 - 00:13

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So did my grandma-took me to Winterland for the Ice Follies....yeh, the shows @ Winterland we experienced after our childhood were way more fun....barely remember the skating ......Have you come out of the park yet? Phase 8.....
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Submitted by Mr. Pid on Sat, 07/18/2009 - 07:46

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I have no recollections of this venue (from the wrong coast, sorry, and obviously skating on thin ice here) but I am waiting to see if Doris the Pygmy Pony puts in a cameo, even if she's out of phase in Montana... Conversation is always more interesting than recitation, so speak your mind and not someone else's.
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Submitted by joe the piscean on Tue, 03/23/2010 - 10:31

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Got hung up on finding info re: Family Dog at Beach as I have some fond memories of the site & other ballrooms since I was living in the Haight before the 'invasion' and was part of most of it; sometimes had to get back to NYC for a reality check. All the usual concert halls - Fillmore, Avalon, Winterland, Carousel, Matrix were close to transit lines, could Chet have found a more out of the way place? Aesthetically marvelous as i recall - years have passed & many barrels consumed at the time so somethings are missing but maybe others can fill it in. Above the dance floor, encircling it were 2 - 3 rows of seats, Chet had put in a bandstand at each end so they'd be no set-up waiting time. In the back was a flagstone patio w/a well and the 'refreshment' stand for mind & body. So great to feel the coolness of the stones as the music came from indoors and the stars were visible w/o the city lights. Does anyone recall who played in June/69 when the archives show 'no acts listed'? Remember autopiloting my ford convertible thru GG park loaded w/people returning to the Haight - drop off at the donut shop across from Kezar. Yes, like most others who could, I moved to SanAnselmo when the speed & violence became too much.
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  • Default Avatar
    joe the piscean
    16 years 5 months ago
    Got hung up on finding info
    Got hung up on finding info re: Family Dog at Beach as I have some fond memories of the site & other ballrooms since I was living in the Haight before the 'invasion' and was part of most of it; sometimes had to get back to NYC for a reality check. All the usual concert halls - Fillmore, Avalon, Winterland, Carousel, Matrix were close to transit lines, could Chet have found a more out of the way place? Aesthetically marvelous as i recall - years have passed & many barrels consumed at the time so somethings are missing but maybe others can fill it in. Above the dance floor, encircling it were 2 - 3 rows of seats, Chet had put in a bandstand at each end so they'd be no set-up waiting time. In the back was a flagstone patio w/a well and the 'refreshment' stand for mind & body. So great to feel the coolness of the stones as the music came from indoors and the stars were visible w/o the city lights. Does anyone recall who played in June/69 when the archives show 'no acts listed'? Remember autopiloting my ford convertible thru GG park loaded w/people returning to the Haight - drop off at the donut shop across from Kezar. Yes, like most others who could, I moved to SanAnselmo when the speed & violence became too much.
  • Mr. Pid
    17 years 1 month ago
    Dagnabit!
    I have no recollections of this venue (from the wrong coast, sorry, and obviously skating on thin ice here) but I am waiting to see if Doris the Pygmy Pony puts in a cameo, even if she's out of phase in Montana... Conversation is always more interesting than recitation, so speak your mind and not someone else's.
  • Gypsy Cowgirl
    17 years 1 month ago
    Docks/ Buddy....
    So did my grandma-took me to Winterland for the Ice Follies....yeh, the shows @ Winterland we experienced after our childhood were way more fun....barely remember the skating ......Have you come out of the park yet? Phase 8.....