Genya Ravan’s Wild Night at Fillmore East: 'When You Got Something, Flaunt It'
- edgarstreetbooks
- Jan 24
- 2 min read
'Fillmore East: The Venue That Changed Rock Music Forever' Book Excerpt
Frank Mastropolo
Genya Ravan fronted Ten Wheel Drive, the dynamic horn band formed in 1969. On Feb 6–7, 1971, Ten Wheel Drive performed at Fillmore East on a bill that featured bluesman Luther Allison, who opened the show, and headliner Steppenwolf.
In this book excerpt from Fillmore East: The Venue That Changed Rock Music Forever, Ravan recalls one of those memorable shows at promoter Bill Graham’s East Village concert hall.
Genya Ravan: We appeared at Fillmore East twice. Oh my God, it was amazing. It was really the beginning of Ten Wheel Drive. The boys didn’t feel like they were ready to do the Fillmore, and I said, “Get out of here, we’re doin’ it!”
I was the pile driver. I was definitely the wheels in Ten Wheel. It was a big deal for all of us, it was really one of our big first gigs in New York City. They were very nervous.
I had this bright idea, this wasn’t planned. There was a body painter in the dressing room. I eased the pain when I came out of my dressing room with two red stars painted on my boobs. I had beautiful breasts, and I said, “When you got something, flaunt it.” So I did.
You want to see an audience, especially all the boys, run towards the stage when I came on stage. When I started to sing, and we opened up with “Tightrope,” I come out and I go, “I hear ya!” And there I am standing there with a see-through black jacket, total see-through, and there were two stars on my boobs.
They were red with blue outlines. They were beautiful. I had hip-huggers on so basically from my navel on up I was naked. So while I’m singing, it got really hot, and I took the jacket off, and the goddamn lighting guy puts red lights on me. So now, you don’t see the fucking stars! I never thought of that! There I am, with nothing on!
We had the hot seat. You know, the hot seat is before the main artist. And usually, an audience would get antsy and want to see the main artist. That never happened for me. I was so excited. We had to do an encore. This is before Steppenwolf, before they went on. It was just a wonderful, wonderful feeling.
Since Ten Wheel Drive’s breakup in 1974, Genya Ravan has produced and performed solo. Today Ravan hosts the Chicks and Broads and Goldie’s Garage shows in Little Steven’s Underground Garage on SiriusXM Radio.
Frank Mastropolo is the author of Fillmore East: The Venue That Changed Rock Music Forever and the Greatest Performances series. For more on our latest projects, visit Edgar Street Books.
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