How Texxas Jam ’78 Rocked Out Despite Staunch Opposition

Texxas Jam rocked the Cotton Bowl on July 1, 1978 in Dallas, bringing the summer mega-festival back to the Lone Star State after years of staunch local-government refusal to grant long-haired rockers permission to invade their hallowed stadiums. What’s the big deal, you ask? Well, this being Texas, it all naturally came down to football.

ZZ Top had drawn 80,000 fans to the University of Texas’ Memorial Stadium in 1974, leaving behind a ruined gridiron for the resident Longhorns to cope with as the college season got under way.

This unintentional act of “vandalism” was deemed so serious that it would be four years before the promotional team behind the already well-established California Jam could convince Cotton Bowl officials to take a chance on another event. Officially called the Texxas World Music Festival, it was nicknamed the Texxas Jam shortly thereafter… read more >