Earl Oliver & Friends: Live from LaVal's

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Live From LaVal's #4
Run Time: 00:27:05

Earl Oliver & Friends: Live from LaVal's was a one hour musical showcase taped unedited in front of a live audience on the first Sunday of each month initially at a little music club in the basement of LaVal's pizza parlor on the Northside of the University of California Berkeley campus, and later at various locations in Berkeley and San Francisco, from February 1992 until November 1994. The video was produced by Jon Gordon, who was the entertainment manager at the club. The musical program was produced and hosted by Earl Oliver, who also dressed the set. During it's initial 2 1/2 year run, the program showcased some of the finest acoustic music talent available in the greater San Francisco Bay area and was broadcast on 16 Cable Access channels throughout Northern California.

The show is San Francisco Bay Area musical history. A number of now famous acts received their first wide exposure on the program, including: Hawaiian Slack-Key guitar master, Patrick Landeza, legendary harmonica player, Will Scarlett from the band, Hot Tuna, bow-hammered cymbalom master and scorer of feature films, Michael Masley, experimental guitarist, Fred LaRose, Don Burnham, front man for the western swing ensemble, Lost Weekend, the late ragtime picker, Peter Sanborn, PBS Documentary film composer, Malcolm Brooks, Big Wide Grin lead singer, Elaine Dempsey, guitar wizard Steve Carrillo (aka The Badger), world renowned childrens' entertainers, The Hip Waders, songwriters Pamela Martin, Jon Black, Chuck Brodsky and many others... In the summer of 2008, Earl converted the 29 hours of unedited SVHS video into MPEG format and edited it into 54 half-hour segments. The best 20 programs are currently in syndication throughout the US and are presented here for your enjoyment.