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Schaefer Music Festival Thu Jun 15, 1972 - Sat Sep 02, 1972, Wollman Rink, 63 Center Drive, New York City New York 10065
The Schaefer Music Festival in Central Park was a recurring music festival held in the summer between 1967 and 1976 at Wollman Rink in New York City's Central Park. It featured a number of notable performances. The sponsorship was taken over by Dr.Pepper in 1977 and the name changed to the Dr.Pepper Central Park Music Festival until the location of the festival was moved to Pier 84 in 1981 and the Wollman Skating Rink ceased being used as a concert venue.
The festival was sponsored by Rheingold Breweries until 1968, when the task was handled by F. & M. Schaefer Brewing Company. The cost of the annual music festival was about $500,000, and admissions, at $1 per person in 1968, were expected to bring in $250,000 to $270,000 for the summer program, leaving a deficit, picked up by Schaefer, of more than $200,000. "Until Schaefer decided to assume sponsorship, the prospect was that the ticket price would have to be doubled. The $2, Commissioner of Parks August Heckscher said, would have been 'too expensive for a lot of New Yorkers. 'Blimey. What would they think of prices these days?
Just before the Schaefer Music Festival kicked off in the summer of 1968 a free concert was given in Central Park featuring the Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane and the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, 6,000 people "jammed into the bandstand near the Central Park Mall while thousands more sprawled out on the grass and under the trees."
Every summer for seven years the schedule of gigs featured a whole host of bands of the time. In 1972 this included;
Arlo Guthrie, B.B. King, Badfinger, Bette Midler, Bill Withers, Billy Joel, Billy Preston, Blood Sweat and Tears, Buddy Miles, Canned Heat, Captain Beyond, Chi Coltrane, Curtis Mayfield, David Blue, David Bromberg, Don McLean, Dr. John the Night Tripper, Edgar Winter, Flo and Eddie, Ginger Baker, Harry Chapin, Heads Hands and Feet, Herbie Mann, Jackie DeShannon, José Feliciano, Leo Kottke, Loggins and Messina, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Malo, Mandrill, Melanie, Pure Food and Drug Act, Quicksilver Messenger Service, Richie Havens, Savoy Brown, Seatrain, Sérgio Mendes and Brasil '77, Sha Na Na, Slade, Strawbs, Taj Mahal, The Association, The Blues Project, The Byrds, The Chambers Brothers, The Doors, The Four Seasons, The J. Geils Band, The James Gang, The Kinks, The New York Rock and Roll Ensemble, Tom Rush and James Cotton Blues Band, amongst many others. Pretty good, I’m sure you’ll agree.
In 1977, Dr.Pepper assumed sponsorship of the Central Park concert series, renamed the Dr.Pepper Central Park Music Festival. Due to residential noise complaints, this series was moved to Pier 84 on the West Side in 1981. The festival name was changed to Dr.Pepper Music Festival after the move away from Central Park in 1981. In 1983 Miller Brewing Company took over sponsorship with the name Miller Time Concerts on the Pier until 1988. In 1989 Reebok took over sponsorship of the concert series at Pier 84, renamed Reebok Riverstage, which lasted through to 1990.
