Imagine a show that included the Beach Boys, Chuck Berry, James Brown and Marvin Gaye.

Rock 'n' roll heaven, indeed. But then add Gerry and the Pacemakers, Lesley Gore, Jan and Dean and Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas, all at the height of their popularity.

Oh, yeah. And then add Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, the Supremes and the Rolling Stones.

It's almost unimaginable to picture the T.A.M.I. Show, which on October 29, 1964, graced the stage of the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium. Seven of the 11 acts have been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. I had heard of the performance, which was made into a movie that had a limited release, but I never saw it until today. For some reason, it was never released for home video and rarely played on television until it was made into a DVD this year.

It's odd to look at the screaming audience of teenage girls and realize all of them are at least in their 60's now. It's sort of like meeting an old man and having him tell you he was at Woodstock. There's a cognitive dissonance that it's hard to get past.

[caption id="attachment_301" align="alignright" width="247" caption="James Brown in 1964"]<a href="http://mikerappaport.net/onevoice/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/061225_james_brown_rip_b.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-301" src="http://mikerappaport.net/onevoice/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/061225_james_brown_rip_b-247x300.jpg" alt="" width="247" height="300" /></a>[/caption]

It has long been known that the real show-stopping performance in Santa Monica was by James Brown, and indeed, the Rolling Stones were reportedly very annoyed at having to follow him onstage.

He was a little older than the other performers -- 31 in 1964 -- and it was obvious that the Hardest Working Man in Show Business was at the peak of his powers. Most of the Southern California teens in the auditorium probably hadn't had all that much exposure to his music -- Motown was just getting big, and Brown was harder-edged than that -- but there was no question he won them over.

For as little known as it is, the T.A.M.I. Show -- it stood for Teen Age Music International, later changed to Teenage Awards Music International -- was probably the greatest aggregation of talent in one show until Woodstock five years later.

It's a great show, and damn, the music always does take me back.

It always does make me feel better.

It's almost automatic.