What well-known writer/film director Cameron Crowe wrote on March 9,1972 about Elson Irwin
and other Union-Tribune writers(without knowing the facts):
Fleetwood Mac at Extravaganza
by Cameron Crowe
The San Diego Door - March 1972
"Before I attempt to review the February 25th John Baldry, Fleetwood Mac, and Savoy Brown Concourse extravaganza,
let me indulge in a trivial plea.
Do not let any of the San Diego Union concert reviews find you believing in what
they say. If you look closely enough at any Union concert "analysis", you will note that never will anything but the first
three songs of the top billing be listed. The reason? The Union deadline time is 10:30 pm. At this magical hour all concert
reviews of a show that very night must be in. So Union journalists, obviously not being superhuman, must leave after the first
three songs or 10:00 pm. - whichever comes first.
The Union review of the recent Youngbloods concert is a prime example
of this. If fact, the author, Elson Irwin, also writes a column in the 'Bachelor's Beat' magazine (he once wrote in his
BB column "The real show at these rock shows is not the music, but the pretty young bra-less things who provide a pleasant
view of the breasts right on down to the crotch). The list of his criticism of the concert was that The Youngbloods
played with the attitude of "let's-give-these-peasants-a-little-bit-of-what-they-want-to-hear-and-get-out-of-here". Irwin,
who left after the first few songs, was oblivious to the fact The Youngbloods went on to play for three-and-a-half hours.
Anyway,
the point I am trying to make is that a portrait in full of a group's live performance cannot be found in The Union. Do not
be persuaded into believing a review written on the basis of the first three tunes when most groups take that long to get
adjusted to the audience, the equipment, and the acoustics."
(Crowe was only 16 years old when he was writing for the Door,)
Subsequently Cameron Crowe wrote (Aug 10, 1997):
"Long after I wrote my comments in The Door, I became aquainted with Elson Irwin, and
I soon realized I had wronged him, but that does not apply to other Union-Tribune writers. I have great respect
for Irwin's knowledge of music and theater and applaud everything he has accomplished."
