Thanks to the initiative of a couple of students, the Staples High School auditorium was the site of concerts by some of the biggest names in 1960s rock music. Amazingly, in roughly a two-year period – the spring of 1966 to the spring of 1968 – six famous bands later inducted into the Rock Hall of Fame all played at Staples: the Doors, Cream, Sly and the Family Stone, The Young Rascals, The Yardbirds, and The Animals.
It was a unique place and time. Not long thereafter, these immensely popular rock groups were playing to sell-out crowds of approximately 20,000 at Madison Square Garden. The Staples performances left a lasting impression on those students lucky enough to attend, including many inspired to become professional musicians themselves.
In 1965 Staples students Dick Sandhaus and Paul Gambaccini wanted to make their high school days special. And they had a subscription to Billboard magazine. So with the audacity of kids, they pitched the idea of bringing the new cutting edge of popular music to Staples with emerging rock-groups eager to acquire more fans. The Board Of Education and the principal bought it! As long as they could keep the stars to an initial down payment of 750 bucks and ticket prices below $3.
And with that they were off, bringing the Beau Brummels, a California band then climbing the US charts with a single entitled "Laugh Laugh" for the first event. The Staples auditorium was filled to capacity with screaming fans, kicking off what would be a long tradition of big name rock bands appearing there, forty three different bands in all. The British invasion was coming on strong in 1966! The Yardbirds featuring the not yet super-famous rock-guitar gun-slingers Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck landed in Westport, Connecticut, for the group's first appearance in the United States!
The Concerts
August 30, 1964 Staples High School Auditorium, Westport, CT (Leonard Bernstein and Isaac Stern playing piano and violin together to help raise money for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee)
November 15, 1964 Staples High School Auditorium, Westport, CT (Arthur Schlesinger Jr. and Sammy Davis Jr. A benefit for the John F. Kennedy Library. The two-hour program, starting at 4 P.M., also included Betty Comden and Adolph Green, the lyricists, and the cast of the British revue, “Cambridge Circus.”
June 1965 Staples High School Cafeteria, Westport, CT (Class of 1966 Junior Prom)
November 27, 1965 Staples High School Cafeteria, Westport, CT (Benefit Dance For The Westport Leukemia Society. The Wreys, The Mystics)
December 19, 1965 Staples High School Auditorium, Westport, CT (Beau Brummels, The Triumvirate)
February 12, 1966 Staples High School Auditorium, Westport, CT (The Remains, The Triumvirate)
April 30, 1966 Staples High School Auditorium, Westport, CT (Cancelled, The Lovin' Spoonful)
May 10, 1966 Staples High School Auditorium, Westport, CT (The Animals)
May 28, 1966 Staples High School Cafeteria, Westport, CT (Class Of 1967 Junior Prom. Blues Project, Screamers, Triumvirate)
June 3, 1966 Staples High School Auditorium, Westport, CT (Tom Paxton)
October 15, 1966 Staples High School Cafetetia, Westport, CT (Home Coming Dance. Thee Strangeurs, Loved Ones, who had won a Band War at an earlier Get-Acquianted Dance)
October 16, 1966 Staples High School Auditorium, Westport, CT (Benefit for United Cerebral Palsy. The Cyrkle, The Sultans & Tony Gee, Chico Vejar. 3 shows 1.30, 4.30 & 7.30)
October 22, 1966 Staples High School Auditorium, Westport, CT (Yardbirds, Thee Strangeurs, with lead singer Steven Tallarico, who would later call himself Steven Tyler)
January 28, 1967 Staples High School Cafetetia, Westport, CT (Sadie Hawkins Dance. Thee Strangeurs)
February 12, 1967 Staples High School Auditorium, Westport, CT (Cancelled, Young Rascals, rescheduled for February 19th)
February 19, 1967 Staples High School Auditorium, Westport, CT (Young Rascals, The Loved Ones. 2 shows 1.30 & 4.30. Rescheduled from February 12th)
February 25, 1967 Staples High School Auditorium, Westport, CT (SSO Dance. The Skylarks)
May 19, 1967 Staples High School Auditorium, Westport, CT (The Blues Project, Richie Havens, Jeremy & The Satyrs)
May 24, 1967 Staples High School Cafeteria, Westport, CT (Class of 68 "May Daze" Junior Prom. The Left Banke, Shaggy Boys)
June 17, 1967 Staples High School Gymnasium, Westport, CT (Class Of 1967 "Emerald City" Senior Prom. Blues Magoos)
June 18, 1967 Staples High School Auditorium, Westport, CT (World Affairs Center Benefit. Pete Seeger)
September 21, 1967 Staples High School Auditorium, Westport, CT (The Doors)
December 2, 1967 Staples High School Auditorium, Westport, CT (Louis Armstrong)
March 27, 1968 Staples High School Auditorium, Westport, CT (Cream, Soul Purpose)
March 31, 1968 Staples High School Auditorium, Westport, CT (Phil Ochs)
May 24, 1968 Staples High School Auditorium, Westport, CT (Sly and the Family Stone, Soul Purpose)
May 25, 1968 Staples High School Gymnasium, Westport, CT (Sock-Hop. Sly and the Family Stone)
April 20, 1969 Staples High School Auditorium, Westport, CT (Odetta Holmes)
May 29, 1969 Staples High School Auditorium, Westport, CT (Rhinoceros, James Gang. 2 shows 7.30 & 10.30)
December 21, 1969 Staples High School Auditorium, Westport, CT (The Fun Band featuring Buddy Miles, James Cotton Blues Band)
December 20, 1970 Staples High School Auditorium, Westport, CT (Livingston Taylor)
February 21, 1971 Staples High School Auditorium, Westport, CT (Taj Mahal. 2 Shows 6.00 & 9.00)
March 28, 1971 Staples High School Auditorium, Westport, CT (Youngbloods, Jeffrey Cain)
June 27, 1971 Staples High School Auditorium, Westport, CT (cancelled. Country Joe McDonald. This show was canceled because Joe showed up way too late on a school-night, having played earlier at the Fillmore East, NY)
July 2, 1971 Staples High School Auditorium, Westport, CT (The New Dave Brubeck Quartet, featuring Dave Brubeck (piano), Gerry Mulligan (sax), Jack Six (bass), Alan Dawson (drums), New Heavenly Blue, featuring Chris Brubeck, Chris Brown, & Herbie Mann)
July 11, 1971 Staples High School Auditorium, Westport, CT (Edgar Winter White Trash, Goodhill, Bullmooch)
July 30, 1971 Staples High School Auditorium, Westport, CT (Delaney & Bonnie, Tim Hardin)
August 20, 1971 Staples High School Auditorium, Westport, CT (The Byrds)
January 16, 1972 Staples High School Auditorium, Westport, CT (J. Geils Band)
February 27, 1972 Staples High School Auditorium, Westport, CT (John Lee Hooker, Life Itself)
November 24, 1972 Staples High School Auditorium, Westport, CT (A benefit for the Children's Medical Relief International. Jonathan Edwards, Eric Anderson)
1973 Staples High School Auditorium, Westport, CT (Buddy Miles And The Freedom Express)
July 29, 1973 Staples High School Auditorium, Westport, CT (Mahavishnu Orchestra, Taj Mahal. 2 shows 6.30 & 10.00)
August 4, 1973 Staples High School Gymnasium, Westport, CT (Sha Na Na, New Heavenly Blue)
September 1, 1973 Staples High School Auditorium, Westport, CT (New Riders Of The Purple Sage. 2 shows)
June 28, 1975 Staples High School Auditorium, Westport, CT (Peter Frampton)