Summer and Song

Summertime is when nearly everyone has more free time and more disposable income, which is probably why there is more music to enjoy during the warm weather months. Following is an opinionated guide to rock- and blues-oriented events in our area:

* B.B. King’s, the 500-seat blues venue in Universal City, has a handle on all the local blues and national touring acts. The three-level, two-balcony hangout has a number of special promotions planned.

Mondays will feature an all-star blues jam, while every Sunday a gospel brunch will feature a different artist, including Philip Walker this Sunday, Dave Window & the Lineup on May 24, and Billy Vera & the Beaters on May 31.

In the Great Underappreciated Local Artist Department: That blues man with a million stories, Doug MacLeod, will appear Saturday with Guitar Shorty and May 30 with the Delgado Brothers and Juke Logan.

Perhaps the most anticipated gig, however, will be June 1, when the Chambers Brothers will make a rare appearance. One of the greatest live bands of the ‘60s, the four brothers backed by a drummer joined gospel-flavored vocals with some serious rock ‘n’ roll and are best remembered for the big hit “Time Has Come Today.”

But it’s also worth showing up to hear them sing “People Get Ready,” and their rendition of “The Midnight Hour” is incomparable. It doesn’t get any better than all four Chambers brothers--Joe, Willie, Lester and George--on the same stage. Willie Chambers will play with his band July 18. (818) 622-5464.

* If you don’t want to deal with the crowds at Universal City, and don’t want to pay $6 to park, there’s still plenty of blues most nights of the week at smaller venues such as the Blue Saloon in North Hollywood, Cozy’s Bar & Grill in Sherman Oaks and Smokin’ Johnnie’s in Studio City.

Also, most of the bands that used to play at the now-defunct FM Station can be found at the Country Club in Reseda. Hey, you don’t want all those guys to get haircuts and get day jobs, do you?

* And, as usual, there’s a typical roster of famous rock stars playing at Universal Ampitheatre. Upcoming: Widespread Panic, May 31; the Temptations, Four Tops and Thelma Houston, June 5; Alabina, June 13; Air Supply and Rick Springfield, June 14;

“An Evening of Saxes and Guitars” with Richard Elliot and Jonathan Butler, and Kirk Whalum & Marc Antoine, June 20; the Chieftains and Sinead O’Connor, June 24; Chicago and Hall & Oates, July 22-23; Yes and Alan Parsons Project, July 24;

Stevie Nicks and Boz Scaggs, July 27; the B-52s and Pretenders, Aug. 4-5; Backstreet Boys, Aug. 8; James Taylor, Aug. 11, 12 and 17; and Blues Music Festival with B.B. King, Neville Brothers, Dr. John and Storyville, Aug. 16.

* The Valley Cultural Center’s “Concerts in the Park” series begins May 31 at the Lou Bredlow Pavilion in Woodland Hills’ Warner Park and runs consecutive Sundays throughout the summer. The kickoff event will be a school concert with participants from the elementary school level to the CSUN Youth Orchestra. The emcee will be the Big Kahuna himself, Frankie Avalon.

Other rock-oriented shows include: Rose Royce and Ronnie & the Classics, June 7; Jack Mack & the Heart Attack, July 19; Second Annual Blues Festival with Jeannie & Jimmy Cheatham and the Sweet Baby Blues Band, Joe Houston Band and Chris “The Hammer” Smith, Aug. 2; and Queen Ida and Her Zydeco Band, Aug. 30. (818) 704-1358.

* For those swingers who don’t have their outfit quite right or just don’t want to deal with the drive to the Derby in Hollywood, there will be a weekly Wednesday night swing dance in Verdugo Park in Glendale, sponsored by the Verdugo Swing Society. The dances will begin July 1 and run through Aug. 12. (818) 548-3798.

* Jerry is still dead, and the remaining members of the Grateful Dead may have re-formed, but, during that long, strange trip between sets, Deadheads are scarcely missing a dance step. This will be demonstrated again at Desert Jam ‘98, a two-day epic Grateful Dead tribute and light show slated for May 22-23 at Carmen’s Ponderosa Guest Ranch in Apple Valley.

David Gans, host of the nationwide “Grateful Dead Hour” on radio, will moderate. Former Dead keyboard player Vince Welnick and his band Missing Man Formation will perform along with Deadhead-friendly outfits such as Cubensis, Random Spark, Peculiar Boogie, Family Tree, Cosmic Freeway and Electric Blue. (760) 247-4483 or (310) 783-4643.

And, finally, Deadheads and Phish Heads please note that Phish’s only SoCal gig this summer will be at the Ventura County Fairgrounds on July 20.

* The Sagebrush Cantina in Calabasas is clearly the place to go Sunday afternoons when beautiful people and weekend bikers ogle each other and get friendly over the subtle sounds of an acoustic band. Then, around sundown, the more adventurous move the party less than a mile away to the place with more aliases than a bank robber, Fusilli.

Formerly Pelican’s, then Borage but now Fusilli, most still know the place as Pelican’s. Anyway, acoustic music begins at “The X-Files” hour of 9 p.m., and live rock starts about an hour later for those who will be dysfunctional at work Monday or are gainfully unemployed. (818) 225-8090.

* A couple of years ago, this was the biggest gig between the Valley and Ventura County--reggae by the pool at the Hyatt Westlake Plaza in Thousand Oaks. It used to draw upward of 700 folks on Thursday nights, but the old manager, according to promoter Dave Hewitt, “thought the thing was out of control. But the new owner likes money.”

The Hyatt figures to make plenty of dough when Urban Dread begins a summer-long gig around the same ol’ pool Thursday nights beginning June 18. (805) 497-9991.