The T.A.M.I. Show

I saw this in the theater in '64 or '65 when it was released and it pretty much changed my life. I already loved Jan & Dean, the Beach Boys, Lesley Gore (everyone PLEASE note the correct spelling of her first name: it's NOT "Leslie"!), Gerry & the Pacemakers, etc., but was completely unprepared for James Brown and the Famous Flames.

I kinda didn't know what to make of JB's dramatic finale with the cape, etc., at the time. It actually scared me a bit! (As it apparently did Mick Jagger and Keith Richards!) I thought he was having a seizure or something! It's since become sort of a cliché, down to Paul Shaffer's bit on "Late Night," but at that time no white kids I knew had ever seen anything remotely like THAT! Just blew me away completely!

It's also worth noting that the fantastic backing band for the show was led by noted producer/arranger/performer Jack Nitzsche, who worked with everybody from Bob B. Soxx and the Bluejeans to Captain Beefheart, with a few Lesley Gores, Tim Buckleys, Neil Youngs, Rolling Stones, etc., thrown in for good measure! A true unsung legend in his own right!

The Beach Boys' segment has been cut from most versions since then, if you could find the show at ALL. There was a "That Was Rock: the TAMI and TNT Music Shows" tape that was available years ago, but most of the TAMI Show was missing and the TNT Show I didn't care for much.

I recently found a pretty good copy (DVD-R)of the WHOLE THING ("TAMI Show 1964") on eBay, INCLUDING the Beach Boys' segment, and it brought back some incredible memories.

I hope that someday someone will release a "legitimate," uncut, first-generation quality version of this show, although with licensing deals, etc., I'm not too optimistic. In the meantime I've got the next best thing: a decent-quality uncut DVD-R, with much of it in widescreen format!

1964's The T.A.M.I. Show (T.A.M.I. is short for Teenage Awards Music International) was the very first live-concert movie of the rock era. And, believe me, this long-unavailable, landmark film is a real groovy treat for any ardent fan of early pop music.

Featuring a bevy of over-zealous go-go dancers and hysterically screaming fans, The T.A.M.I. Show proficiently showcased the budding talent of early-1960's pop music sensations from both sides of the Atlantic.

Filmed in b&w, at Santa Monica's Civic Auditorium (a 3000-seat venue), The T.A.M.I. Show's biggest highlights were The Beach Boys (performing "Surfer Girl"), The Supremes (performing "Baby Love"), and The Rolling Stones (performing "Time Is On My Side").

Directed by Steve Binder - This 2-hour music extravaganza also featured the singing talents of James Brown, Marvin Gaye and Lesley Gore, to name but a few of the 14+ performers.

Thanks for the great background information on the TAMI show, Wiluxe2.

It was certainly a defining moment in my musical life.

I saw it as a teenager when it first came out and will confirm that the segment by James Brown was the mother of all show-stoppers. I went to the movie to see the Rolling Stones segment, but left remembering James Brown signing Please, Please, Please. He was the real deal. I've seen some versions listed on e-bay with Ike and Tina doing Please Please Please, and other ones where it's JB. Perhaps over the years the movie segments have been cut and spliced so that the original show would be hard to recognize.

By the way, Leslie Gore's 'You Don't Own Me' was also great. She really has a wonderful melodic voice.

I'd be interested in the full length version in Video or DVD if it's available. JTL

I was just 16. I went to the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium that night with a friend to collect autographs from some of the bands. I got only one, Dennis Wilson of the Beach Boys. (I lost it soon after getting it.) When we found out that we could get into see the concert free we quickly called our mothers and asked permission to stay to see the show. Lucky us, our mothers said yes. We had to wait in line until all of the people with tickets went in first then they let us in. Being young and couragous we didn't stay in the seats that they first ushered us into. By the time the second act came on we were in the very front of the stage on the right (as you face the stage). We were up close and personal with all of the acts. I was even caught on tape twice. Once over the shoulder of Jan and Dean and again at the end screaming my lungs out for the Stones. Although I have been to other concerts since, this one sticks in my mind for all of the groups that I saw that night. I love to tell the people I work with that I once went to a concert where I got to see Chuck Berry, Marvin Gay, The Supremes, who sang their current hit record "Baby Love", Leslie Gore, who sang every girls anthem "You Don't Own Me" as well as "It's My Party", Jan and Dean, The Beach Boys, who sang "Surfer Girl" just to me a surfer girl, Billy J Krame r, Gerry and the Pacemakers and James Brown, who did bring down the house with everyone on their feet screaming for an encore. Oh, yeah, I forgot. And the Rolling Stones. I am the envy of anyone who knows any of the music that was represented there. To be able to see musical history in the making.

I later saw the show, once in the theater and later in the early 70's when it was shown on TV. I never expected that my face would be seen screaming for the Stones yet there I was. A night I never want to forget. A night that changed my life, or at least my voice, forever.

I saw this show on video for the first time in 1983. I was in a 50's/60's band at the time so we considered it as "homework" and were looking for material. What we found was amazing! Everyone mentions James Brown (great performances here) and some mention the Rolling Stones (with Brian Jones, no less - now we know what started the phenomenon), but only 1 person mentioned Leslie Gore (if "You Don't Own Me" doesn't give you goose bumps, check your pulse) and what about Ike and Tina Turner. She has that audience spellbound. They had no clue what they were gonna get when they bought those tickets! She shakes, gyrates and shimmies with more energy than any performer I have ever seen! To be honest,I wasn't a fan of the 50's/60's music (especially on records) until I began to catch films like this that captured the true live feel of the performances. There was an edge to the music that the records didn't capture. Even Sting makes reference to it in a Police song (Turn on my VCR. Same one I've had for years. James Brown The TAMI show. Ain't heard that style in years). There are no lame performances and this should be a staple of any musicologists library.