I married the love of my life, Deborah Kay Forga, on December 31, 1970 and she travelled with me on the road doing shows the entire year of 1971. {{< StoryImage id="showco-1973-motor-circle-party-15-motor-circle-party-73" caption="Rusty and Deborah Brutsché 1971." credit="Rusty Brutsché Archive" size="medium" >}} ## James Taylor/Carole King 1971 Tour {{< GalleryComponent id="1971-james-taylor-carole-king" >}} Maxson and I were on the road most of the year in 1971. I hired George Wheatley, who was a friend of my wife’s friend, and he went on tour with me in 1971 along with another friend, Kevin McNevins, as my road crew. George is a man of many talents. He stayed with the company his entire career and was an indispensable member of the Showco team. George, Kevin and I did the 1971 James Taylor and Carole King tour that began in Hartford, Connecticut on February 19,1971. I used the two-way Showco speaker system with the four-speaker reflex bass cabinets, the JBL 2350 high frequency horns with the four JBL 2470 drivers and the Marantz amplifiers mounted inside the speaker cabinets. I used the studio style mixing console that Maxson and Chuck Conrad had built using the electronics with the integrated circuits that Conrad had designed. I met Peter Asher again on the 1971 James Taylor and Carole King tour. (I originally encountered Peter at my first sound gig at the Pit Club in 1965 when Peter toured with the Caravan of Stars as part of his duo, Peter and Gordon.) (Now he was James Taylor’s manager and producer.) Peter was on the tour with us, and he closely supervised my mix each night, often sitting with me at the mixing console.

{{< StoryImage id="showco-002-jt-carol-king-71" caption="Peter Asher at the first studio style Showco Mixing Console 1971." credit="Rusty Brutsché Archive" size="responsive" >}} {{< StoryImage id="showco-005-jt-carol-king-71" caption="James Taylor operating the Showco sound console 1971." credit="Rusty Brutsché Archive" size="responsive" >}}

{{< StoryImage id="showco-022-jt-carol-king-71" caption="James Taylor 1971." credit="Rusty Brutsché Archive" size="medium" >}} {{< StoryImage id="showco-009-jt-carol-king-71" caption="Danny Kortchmar, James Taylor, Lee Sklar, Craig Doerge, Showco speaker stack and floor monitor “wedges” on 1971 tour." credit="Rusty Brutsché Archive" size="large" >}} ## Evolution of the Stage Monitor System-1971 In 1971 the stage monitor system began to evolve. Mixing the monitors from the FOH (front of house) mixing console located amidst the audience was awkward, and communicating with the performer about monitor mix or volume changes on stage was slow and difficult. We decided to split the audio signals from each of the onstage vocal microphones (we used audio transformers for the split to isolate each mic line and to eliminate ground loop hums and buzzes). We fed the split signals into a separate small mixing console onstage that was operated by one of the Showco road crew. This mix of the onstage microphones was fed to the onstage monitor speakers for the performers to be able to hear themselves sing (and later to hear their instruments). This created a new job in Showco, as well as the audio industry, called Monitor Engineer. In addition to the side fill monitors, we created smaller floor monitor “wedges” that could be placed on the floor next to a performer and easily positioned around the stage as needed. Each floor monitor had a ported wedged shaped plywood cabinet with a JBL 12” speaker, a small JBL 2305 lens horn with a 2470 driver and a JBL passive crossover. Each wedge was powered by one Marantz 16B 100 watt amplifier module. {{< StoryImage id="showco-1970-73-sound-equipment-011-equipment-70-73" title="First Showco Monitor Console" caption="First Showco Monitor Console 1971 with Showco 6 input yellow mixer, 1/3 octave graphic equalizer and Marantz 16B power amplifier to power the floor monitor speakers. The small box on top with the red call light is the intercom system connected to the Showco house mixing console to enable communication between the house mixing engineer and the monitor engineer." credit="Rusty Brutsché Archive" size="medium" >}}

{{< StoryImage id="showco-1970-73-sound-equipment-035-equipment-70-73" caption="Showco Floor Monitor Wedge Speaker 1971 with JBL 12” speaker and JBL Conical Lens Horn with 2470 Driver and a JBL passive crossover (nicknamed the “potato masher” wedge as the 2470 driver and conical lens horn assembly inside the cabinet resembled the German WWII hand grenade of the same nickname)." credit="Rusty Brutsché Archive" size="responsive" >}} {{< StoryImage id="showco-1970-73-sound-equipment-033-equipment-70-73" caption="Side fill bass cabinet modeled after the JBL 4530 rear loading single speaker cabinet 1971. This was a plywood cabinet with a single 15” speaker manufactured by the Showco woodshop. Two casters were mounted on rear angled surface and cabinet was tilted back like a hand truck to move it." credit="Rusty Brutsché Archive" size="responsive" >}}

{{< StoryImage id="showco-1970-73-sound-equipment-034-equipment-70-73" caption="Side fill horn cabinet 1971 that housed JBL 2390 horn and 2470 driver with JBL crossover and Marantz 16B power amplifier 100 watt module and cable pigtail to connect to the bass cabinet. This horn cabinet was placed atop the side fill bass cabinet to complete the full range side fill monitor speaker stack. " credit="Rusty Brutsché Archive" size="responsive" >}}

{{< StoryImage id="showco-jtaylor-1971-57" caption="Kevin McNevins, one of the world’s first monitor engineers, manning the new monitor console on James Taylor 1971 Tour." credit="Rusty Brutsché Archive" size="medium" >}}

{{< StoryImage id="showco-early-monitor-wedges-1971" caption="Showco stage monitor mixing rack for Quicksilver show 1973. Double rack with three Showco yellow mixers, two Showco monitor mix modules (these units were originally in the front of house mixing rack), Melcor 8 band graphic equalizer, four Marantz 16B power amplifiers mounted on the back of the two 7” yellow panels and a connector panel for floor monitor wedges. " credit="Showco Recovered Archive" size="responsive" >}} {{< StoryImage id="showco-5-73-sound-gear" caption="Showco stage monitor mixing rack 1973 with two Showco yellow mixers, a two channel 1/3 octave graphic equalizer and four Marantz 16B 100 watt power amp modules mounted on the two 7” rack panels. " credit="Showco Recovered Archive" size="responsive" >}}

## Led Zeppelin US and Japan Tours 1971 {{< GalleryComponent id="1971-led-zeppelin-japan" >}} The 1971 Led Zeppelin US tour started after the first leg of the 1971 James Taylor tour had ended. so I took the same equipment and road crew to the Zeppelin tour that began on August 19, 1971 in Vancouver, BC. After the North American leg of the tour ended, Zeppelin began a Japanese tour on September 23, 1971.

{{< StoryImage id="showco-zep-japan-1971-86" caption="Showco sound system for Led Zeppelin 1971 Japan Tour." credit="Rusty Brutsché Archive" size="responsive" >}} {{< StoryImage id="showco-zep-japan-1971-26" caption="Showco mixing console for Led Zeppelin 1971 Japan Tour. The console was located onstage behind the stage left speaker stacks. " credit="Rusty Brutsché Archive" size="responsive" >}}

{{< StoryImage id="showco-025-zep-japan-71" caption="Robert Plant with Showco stage right side fill monitor and sound system stage right speaker stack. The side fill bass speaker cabinet was a Showco manufactured reflex cabinet with no port (see page 103 above). Robert did not use floor monitors. The side monitor bass cabinet and the horn cabinets in the stage right speaker stack are not painted because we did not have a spray booth in Maxson’s garage. I used a spray can to paint the bottom of the cabinets black before mounting the casters with plans to eventually paint all of the cabinets black. " credit="Rusty Brutsché Archive" size="large" >}}

{{< StoryImage id="showco-041-zep-japan-71" caption="John Bonham Led Zeppelin Japan Tour 1971." credit="Rusty Brutsché Archive" size="responsive" >}}

{{< StoryImage id="showco-013-zep-japan-71" caption="Robert Plant & Jimmy Page Japan Tour 1971." credit="Rusty Brutsché Archive" size="responsive" >}}

{{< StoryImage id="showco-023-zep-japan-71" caption="Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, John Paul Jones Japan 1971." credit="Rusty Brutsché Archive" size="responsive" >}}

{{< ShowcaseGallery id="1971-led-zeppelin-japan" title="1971 Led Zeppelin Japan Tour" year="1971" band="Led Zeppelin" >}} ## Jesus Christ Superstar 1971 Tour We were hired by Robert Stigwood to do sound for the first officially authorized arena tour of Jesus Christ Superstar (JCS), written by the theater legends, Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice, and performed by the original Broadway cast – probably the first large-capacity arena rock opera tour (and likely the first that actually preceded the production’s opening on Broadway). Rehearsals began at the legendary Fillmore East in New York City on July 1, 1971. We put together a custom sound system with two double rack consoles and eight Showco yellow mixers because there would be so many microphones needed for a show of this size and complexity. I hired a new employee, Robin Magruder, to be my road crew because Kevin and George would be needed for the James Taylor (JT) and Zeppelin (LZ) tours later in the year. Robin had a background in fine art, and he was another man of many talents like Ron Fox and Keny Whitright. He spent his career at Showco and eventually became the general manager and executive VP of the company. The rehearsals and first few weeks of the Jesus Christ Superstar shows fit between legs of the JT and LZ tours, so I went to New York and did the rehearsals with plans to do the first few weeks of the shows. It was my first experience doing sound for a Broadway show, but the rehearsals and shows went well. I met John Tedesco who was on the JCS lighting crew. He later came to Dallas and helped us launch the lighting rental division of Showco in 1972. I also met renowned lighting designer, Jules Fisher, the lighting designer for the JCS tour. Jules worked with Showco and later Vari-Lite for many years and was a very important client of the company. When it came time for me to leave for the next leg of the JT tour, Ron Fox came to New York and took over as the sound engineer for the Jesus Christ Superstar tour. {{< StoryImage id="showco-007-exlpo-72" caption="Robin Magruder 1972" credit="Jim Bornhorst Archive" size="medium" >}} {{< StoryImage id="showco-1973-led-zeppelin-outdoor-004-zep-outdoor-73" title="Touring Crew" caption="Left to Right: Jack Maxson, John Tedesco, Ron Fox, and Joe Osborn at a Led Zeppelin show in Tampa Stadium, May 5, 1973." credit="Rusty Brutsché Archive" size="large" >}} ## Elvis Presley Tour 1971 {{< GalleryComponent id="1971-elvis-tour" >}} Like the emergence of the separate stage monitor console and creation of the Monitor Engineer, another major trend that emerged in 1971 was for rigging the sound system up off the ground above the stage. Metal platforms were attached to the ceiling of the arena so the sound equipment could be removed from the stage to open up audience sight lines and enable the promoters to sell more tickets. Another tour that I did in 1971 between JT and LZ tours was for Elvis Presley. He had shows booked in arenas for the first time in years, because he’d been playing exclusively at a hotel showroom in Las Vegas. Elvis was essentially playing the arenas in the round with the audience seated on the front, sides and rear of the stage, and Colonel Tom Parker, his manager, wanted clear sight lines. Showco at that time knew nothing about rigging and did not have any rigging equipment. A lighting rental company in Philadelphia owned and operated by Bill McManus, had manufactured some metal platforms that could be rigged from the ceiling of an arena to elevate the sound system speakers about 25’ to 30’ above the floor, clearing audience sight lines. The first-generation design of these platforms had to be hoisted in the air by hand using ropes and pulleys. After the platforms were raised up and secured, stagehands would lift the sound equipment piece by piece with a forklift and place the equipment on the platforms. A later generation used chain motors to lift the platforms, so the sound equipment could be loaded onto the platforms on the floor and then hoisted into place with the chain motors. We used the McManus platforms for several of the Elvis shows: {{< StoryImage id="showco-1970-73-sound-equipment-006-equipment-70-73" caption="Showco equipment on the first-generation McManus platforms without chain motors for Elvis show 1971. Watching the stagehands load the sound equipment onto the platforms using a forklift after the platforms were hoisted into the air by hand was a harrowing experience. Having the power amplifiers inside the cabinets was a big advantage in this situation because you only had to run two power cables and two drive line cables up to each platform from the ground rather than having to deal with separate amp racks and speaker cables. " credit="Rusty Brutsché Archive" size="large" >}} {{< StoryImage id="showco-1971-elvis-tour-018-elvis-tour-71" caption="Elvis show with no Showco speakers onstage 1971. This trend of rigging the sound speakers to be in the air would affect all of our future speaker system designs as we worked to make our equipment easy to rig. We eventually had a large Showco rigging department for both sound and lighting with several hundred CM 1 and 2 ton chain motors and a big inventory of 3/8” and ½” diameter steel cable with eyelets on each end- plus rigging accessories like shackles, rings, nylon load straps, and burlap bags (used to pad the ceiling beams to protect the wire rope cables wrapped around the beams). We even had load cells that were placed between the chain motor and its lighting or sound system load point to measure the actual weight being lifted by each chain motor. " credit="Rusty Brutsché Archive" size="large" >}} {{< StoryImage id="showco-1971-elvis-tour-014-elvis-tour-71" title="The King" caption="Elvis in his famous jumpsuit that he wore for the first time on this tour in 1971. " credit="Rusty Brutsché Archive" size="medium" >}} ## Power Distribution Evolution One of the problems we encountered beginning with our very first show was power distribution. The arenas and venues did not provide power distribution for the musical instruments onstage or for our sound system. And we learned quickly that we needed a common electrical distribution system with a common ground so that we did not introduce ground loop-caused hums and buzzes into our audio system. Maxson took this project on and over the early years he developed an extensive inventory of electrical distribution products that enabled us to connect 4/0 pigtails and feeder cables into a 200 or 400 amp three phase 208V electrical service in the arena then distribute 120V power to all of the musical instruments onstage as well as our sound, lighting and rigging systems. Like rigging, electrical distribution became a critical part of our lighting and sound equipment services and required a huge financial investment. {{< StoryImage id="showco-1973-ac-power-distro-11-distro-73" caption="Power distribution for big shows required many road cases full of electrical cables and power distribution equipment." credit="Showco Recovered Archive" size="medium" >}}

{{< StoryImage id="showco-1973-ac-power-distro-9-distro-73" caption="50 amp/leg branch breaker box with 120V outlets." credit="Showco Recovered Archive" size="responsive" >}} {{< StoryImage id="showco-1973-ac-power-distro-8-distro-73" caption="200 amp line disconnect into 200 amp breaker box with 50 amp/leg distribution cables on the sides that were connected to branch breaker boxes. 4/0 pigtail and feeder cables connected to the arena breaker box would feed the 200A line disconnect. In later years, big shows with big lighting rigs and sound systems with many high-powered amplifiers would have several 200 or 400 amp disconnects feeding up to 3,600 amps of power to our equipment. " credit="Showco Recovered Archive" size="responsive" >}} {{< StoryImage id="showco-1973-ac-power-distro-7-distro-73" caption="200 amp distribution to 50 amp/leg branch circuits breaker box." credit="Showco Recovered Archive" size="responsive" >}}

{{< StoryImage id="showco-venue-breaker-box-1973" caption="A typical breaker box found at a venue, probably a 200 amp or 400 amp capacity, with Showco 4/0 pigtails connected and secured with white gaffers tape. " credit="Showco Recovered Archive" size="responsive" >}} {{< StoryImage id="showco-1973-ac-power-distro-4-distro-73" caption="Distribution boxes and breaker boxes at an outdoor show." credit="Showco Recovered Archive" size="responsive" >}}