big show for John Haber ’ 70 in fall 1966,
and he thinks they inspired him to get
involved in planning Carmichael’s shows.
He was president of the Carolina Union
Activities board for two years and said
much of the credit goes to Union Director
Howard Henry.
“He was quite a visionary, an impresario, and he had very good connections in
New York with booking agencies,” Haber
said. “He was very skillful at predicting
who was on the up and up, and the way
we got a lot of these acts was to book
them before they sort of took off — Neil
Diamond, Iron Butterfly, Dionne Warwick.”
For sure, it wasn’t the acoustics. Only so
many fans could get close enough to catch
the notes before they pinballed around the
room. A 1968 memo lamented “… very
poor acoustical features for any speaking,
singing, or other musical activity.”
Linda Wright ’ 70 (MA) spent eight
years booking concerts at Duke’s Cameron
arena, then eight more as major productions administrator at Carolina. She said
acoustics definitely were a factor in the
competition for acts. Recalling her days in
Carmichael, she said reactions were mixed
— David Bromberg asked, can’t you do
something about it; Roger McGuinn used
the sound-bounce to advantage in the
Byrds’ Eight Miles High.
As with the air conditioning, corrections were too expensive, and essentially
nothing was done. But rock stars liked the
Carolina audience.
Johnny Mathis, the Fifth Dimension, Ike
and Tina Turner, Chicago and Jethro Tull
helped build Carmichael’s reputation
among performers. Carly Simon watched
her husband of one month, James Taylor,
from the wings. Joplin played in 1969 and
was scheduled to return when she died the
next year. Prince brought the 1999 Tour in
1983.
“The acoustics of Carmichael left
something to be desired, but the excitement over the artists who performed there
sort of outweighed the acoustics,” Haber
recalled. “The acoustics also were such that
when the crowd started cheering, it was
pretty electrified. The place shook.”
Wright recalled that in March 1985 the
basketball team, preparing for the tournaments, gave up the floor to Eddie Murphy
and went to Woollen to practice.
1st Annual Meeting of the Society for
Spirituality, Theology and Health:
“Spirituality, Health and Human Flourishing:
Meaning? Measurement? Implications?”
R. David Thomas Executive
Conference Center,
Duke Fuqua School of Business
Keynote Speaker:
Bill Roper, MD
Chief Executive Officer,
UNC Health System
June 25-27, 2008
Durham, NC
Plenary Speakers:
Ellen Idler, PhD Ken Pargament, PhD
Jeff Levin, PhD John Swinton, PhD
More information at
http://www.dukespiritualityandhealth.org/education/national.html
Questions:
Contact Kari Lauderback,
kari.lauderback@duke.edu or 919-660-7556
Center for Aging and Human Development
Be a
Summer Tar Heel!
Maymester: May 13 – 30, 2008
Classes meet every day for more than 3 hours.
Session I: May 13 – June 17, 2008
Session II: June 19 – July 25, 2008
Classes meet every day for 90 minutes.
Students from other colleges or universities and
college graduates may apply as visiting summer students.
Visit our website and apply online at
summer.unc.edu
Summer School
CB #3340, 134 E. Franklin Street, Room 200
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3340
Phone: (919) 966-4364 E-mail: summer_school@unc.edu
