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Concert 10 was a rock concert at Pocono International Raceway in Long Pond, Pennsylvania on July 8 and 9 of 1972. The event attracted an estimated 200,000 people who were met with cold inclement weather, replete with rain and mud. The general atmosphere of the concert was compared to the Woodstock Festival of 1969. Concert 10 represented a successful revival of the American summer rock festival after the repeated failure of U.S. festivals during the previous two years.
Concert production was handled by Concert 10, Inc. First time concert producers Irving Reiss, vice president of the Candygram Company, and attorney George Charak put US$250,000 in escrow to avoid problems paying the artists faced by previous festivals. 66 people were hired from Bill Graham's road crew in Dallas to maintain the sound reinforcement system. 300 security people backed by University karate clubs maintained order, and the raceway's hospital was staffed by six physicians and eight nurses. 65 people from the Lackawanna County Drug Council were on site to handle adverse drug reactions (bad trips) from recreational drug users. The concert was promoted with radio commercials on rock music radio stations in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. Concert ticket prices were set at US$11, with 90,000 tickets sold in advance of the show.
The July 8th concert was scheduled from 1-11 p.m. but due to intermittent weather-related delays, ended at 8:45 a.m. on July 9th
Performers
Black Sabbath and Badfinger were scheduled to appear, but canceled. According to Don Heckman of the New York Times, Edgar Winter's band received the greatest reaction from the audience, with long, bluesy rock jams like "Tobacco Road".
The Denver Pop Festival was a three-day music festival promoted by rock promoter Barry Fey (Feyline) on June 27-June 29, 1969 which was largely overshadowed by Woodstock two months later. Unlike the free-form happening in upstate New York, the Denver festival had the full support and local resources of a major city, taking place in Denver Mile High Stadium. There were high expectations for the Festival; it was commonly called the "First Annual" Denver Pop Festival. The peak attendance was estimated at 50,000.
Denver officials actually cooperated to a remarkable degree with Fey in the latter's preparations for the upcoming three-day festival, which was anticipated to draw a large influx of young people from out-of-town. The city provided a campground at West Sixth Avenue and Federal Boulevard, where the Metro Denver Urban Coalition arranged for water trucks and portable toilets. The campground even ran shuttles to the downtown festival site at Mile High Stadium, home to the Denver Broncos football team.
Sixteen bands were scheduled to play. The Jimi Hendrix Experience would top the bill on the festival's third and final day. More than 10,000 fans were expected each day. Bill Hanley of 'Monterey' and 'Miami Pop' festival fame would take charge of the sound system, while Chip Monck (later of Woodstock fame) would MC the Denver festival. Tickets were priced at $6 per night or $15 for all three nights. Fortunately, Denver's weather cooperated for the outdoor festival. Yet the unprecedented scale of the event, and forces loose in America's streets, seemed to conspire against a smooth operation. As Leslie Gorham Haseman recently put it: "It was peace, love, dove, until '69."
Alan Cunningham of the Rocky Mountain News wrote that "Denver's 'first annual' Pop Festival blasted off into a three-day orbit of screaming and wildly vibrating animal sounds Friday night before more than 8,000 outlandishly clad and thoroughly delighted young fans."
Creedence Clearwater Revival
Just how thoroughly delighted were the young fans?
"A 19-year-old Denver youth sitting in the stands got so carried away with it all that he stripped to near-nothingness. As the crowd cheered his emancipation, two unsmiling police officers cut his evening short by escorting him outside. Police.. .said he was later charged with indecent exposure [and] said he told them he had 'just conquered the world' by taking his clothes off."
Reported Jim Fouratt in Rolling Stone: "Outside, however, the one petty incident needed to rile the protectors happened: A flying bottle hit a cop's helmet; a chase resulted in the arrest of a zonked-out black dressed in an orange jump suit; sirens blared while the P.A. system played 'Street Fighting Man' on stage, and the scene was set for Saturday."
Zephyr onstage at the Denver Pop Festival June 1969
Herbie Worthington: "I don't remember what we did that afternoon; we'd just hang out and talk... I was down the hotel lobby and these girls walked up to me, out of nowhere, and they just said, 'Could you introduce us to Jimi Hendrix?' And I said, 'No. I don't know him.' I went back to Jimi's room and I said, 'Jimi, there's these girls down there that were asking about you.' And he said, 'Where are they?' And I said, 'I told them I don't know you.' Jimi went like: 'Oh man!'" In the meantime, far more serious matters were about to unfold. Noel Redding remembered in his book Are You Experienced? that someone asked him in Denver if he was still with the band -"It did my head in. I was uneasy enough about our future, but this rumor just blew me away".
Noel Redding playing live at the Denver Pop Festival 1969
Frank Zappa is credited by some with inventing the audience wave during his set. He actually selected sections of the stadium (audience) to each make different odd sounds and gestures. He then composed a "tune" on his "crowd instrument".
Throughout much of the festival, a crowd gathered outside the venue and demonstrated against having to pay to hear the acts. They also tried to breach the gates and security fences. The Denver Police were forced to employ riot tactics to protect the gates.
On the second day the battle between gatecrashers outside the stadium and the police suddenly affected those inside. With a combination of shifting wind and re-thrown canisters, tear gas suddenly swept over the crowd. The seats emptied into the concourses and onto the field.
Ticket prices were $6 per day, or $15 for all three days (Fri, Sat, Sun). On Sunday, after all possible tickets had been sold, the promoter announced from the stage that he was declaring it a "free festival".
Performers At The Denver Pop Festival June 27-29 1969
June 27
* Big Mama Thornton * The Flock * Three Dog Night * Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention * Iron Butterfly
June 28
* Aeorta * Zephyr (with Tommy Bolin) * Poco * Johnny Winter * Tim Buckley * Creedence Clearwater Revival
June 29
* Aum * Zephyr * Rev. Cleophus Robinson * Joe Cocker * Three Dog Night * The Jimi Hendrix Experience (final performance together)
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- Retro Rebirth
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Attended by 150,000 fans, it was the largest pop concert up to that time and is considered the more famous of the two Newport Pop Festivals, possibly because of the appearance of the Jimi Hendrix Experience, which got top billing at the venue.[4] Devonshire Downs was a racetrack at that time but now is part of the North Campus for California State University at Northridge.
The Newport Pop Festival was originally billed as "Newport 69," and was held over the three-day weekend of June 20-22, 1969 in Northridge, California at Devonshire Downs. In published writings over the last 40 years, this latter event has been referred to as the "Newport 69 Pop Festival," the "Newport Pop Festival 1969" and simply the "Newport Pop Festival." Subsequently, much confusion has been created over the years between the 1968 and 1969 events. Some of this confusion was generated by the participating musicians themselves who, later, in their interviews, kept getting the two events mixed up.
Though the latter event was organized by a different set of concert promoters and had no connection what so ever to Newport Beach, it is believed that the 1969 Festival was intended to be the spiritual successor to the Orange County event, hoping to capitalize on the brand name and market momentum generated by the 1968 festival. Unfortunately, this move of venue was necessary because the 1968 event had fallen in disfavor with the local community leaders. Three days after the 1968 event, the Costa Mesa City Council vowed to prevent a Newport Pop Festival encore. "To say that we would not like it back here would be the understatement of the year," Costa Mesa Mayor Alvin Pinkley was quoted as saying.
Friday, June 20, 1969
Albert King, Edwin Hawkins Singers, The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Joe Cocker, Southwind, Spirit and Taj Mahal.
Saturday, June 21, 1969
Albert Collins, Brenton Wood, Buffy Ste. Marie, Charity, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Eric Burdon, Friends of Distinction, Jethro Tull, Lee Michaels, Love, Steppenwolf and Sweetwater.
Jimi Hendrix & Buddy Miles On Stage
Sunday, June 22, 1969
Booker T & the MGs, Chambers Brothers, Flock, Grass Roots, Johnny Winter, Marvin Gaye, Mother Earth, Jimi Hendrix, Buddy Miles, Mother Earth, Eric Burdon (jam), Poco (formerly Pogo), The Byrds, The Rascals and Three Dog Night .
Eric Burden On Stage
Video Of Jimi Hendrix Playing at Newport 69
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- Retro Rebirth
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The Celebration of Life Festival took place on June 21-28, 1971 in Cypress Pointe Plantation, McCrea, Louisana. It has been estimated that 50,000 attended this music festival. Little information on this festival can be found on the internet but I did some exploring and this is what I came up with. The following info is taken from a Time Magazine article printed on 07-12-71
It was billed as a "celebration of life," but the Louisiana rock festival near the town of McCrea may have marked the end of what began at Woodstock as a beatific American experience and deteriorated into something violent at Altamont and vapid at Powder Ridge. Last week's festival, which lasted only four days instead of the announced eight, was an American nightmare. To begin with, the festival was postponed for three days while the promoters wallowed in legal mire. The kids amused themselves by making human mud pies and bathing in the nude. Two youths drowned in the fast-rushing Atchafalaya River. State undercover narcotics agents circulated in the crowd and made more than 100 busts. One youth died in a hospital tent from a drug overdose. Meanwhile, dazed with blistering heat, and stultifying humidity, the estimated 50,000 youths who gathered to see Country Joe McDonald and John Sebastian were also choked by dust. For the Woodstock Nation, McCrea was a bleak experience of mud, sweat and tears.
I remember that there was a lot of no shows for bands. The only way to get food was to hike about a half of mile to a country store. Only three or four people were allowed in the store at one time. - LaMojo
Some memories are Watching a simultaneous fireworks display and heat lightning show on the opposite horizon. It was hard to know which way to look. Seeing a French girl pee standing up like a guy. Camping in the rain - There was a fierce storm one night. - bobbyc
I remember guys in rental trucks selling drugs out of the back and then throwing free candy to the crowd. Some great Thai and shrooms. -fusion23
Just stayed outside and partied on the levee, that's where the action was. The little country store was cleaned out. People ran out of food. You could get any drugs you wanted for a can of beans. It rained every day at 4:00 PM. State troopers just said hello to naked people smoking pot. It was originally supposed to last 8 days. It would have dwarfed Woodstock, but the legal injunctions screwed it all up. - aoxo
"Celebration of Life", unfortunately, didn't have the "magic" of an Atlanta or a Woodstock. Some good, but, as an example, I'll never forget Ted Nugent coming on around 5:30 or 6:00 in the morning (think it was the last day. At least, for us it was.) Ted was screaming, cussin' everyone for being asleep. "Get out of those "GOD...." sleeping bags. Your gonna' listen to Ted "F...in" Nugent. GET UP!" Had his amp turned up so loud that the electric lines would hum every time he hit a chord.
I remember bands starting to play when they sun went down and most of the night. I can't recall who played but we loved it all. At one point we got hungry and the food vendors had the prices so high a mini riot broke out and we tore down the fences and people starting throwing out the vendors food to the crowds, it was great. Finally they opened the gates and people starting flooding in. - Greg0711
List Of Performers
Amboy Dukes BB King Bloodrock Allman Brothers Canned Heat Chambers Brothers Chuck Berry Country Joe McDonald Flying Burrito Brothers Ike & Tina Turner It's A Beautiful Day John Sebastian John Lee Hooker Pink Floyd Richie Havens Roland Kirk Taj Mahal Stoneground War
Since today marks the 43 Anniversary of the Monterey International Pop Festival I thought I would put together a feature filled with photos that I tweaked and videos of the artists that played there.
The Monterey International Pop Festival was planned in just seven weeks by promoter Lou Adler, John Phillips of The Mamas & the Papas, producer Alan Pariser, and publicist Derek Taylor. The festival board included members of The Beatles and The Beach Boys. The Monterey location had been known as the site for the long-running Monterey Jazz Festival and Monterey Folk Festival; the promoters saw the Monterey Pop festival as a way to validate rock music as an art form in the way jazz and folk were regarded.
The artists performed for free, with all revenue donated to charity, with the exception of Ravi Shankar, who was paid $3,000 for his afternoon-long performance on the sitar. Country Joe and the Fish were paid $5,000 not by the festival itself, but from revenue generated from the D.A. Pennebaker documentary.
The festival was later hailed as a triumph of organization and cooperation, setting a standard that few subsequent festivals have ever matched.
Lou Adler later reflected:
…Our idea for Monterey was to provide the best of everything -- sound equipment, sleeping and eating accommodations, transportation -- services that had never been provided for the artist before Monterey…
We set up an on-site first aid clinic, because we knew there would be a need for medical supervision and that we would encounter drug-related problems. We didn't want people who got themselves into trouble and needed medical attention to go untreated. Nor did we want their problems to ruin or in any way disturb other people or disrupt the music…
Our security worked with the Monterey police. The local law enforcement authorities never expected to like the people they came in contact with as much as they did. They never expected the spirit of 'Music, Love and Flowers' to take over to the point where they'd allow themselves to be festooned with flowers.
Almost every aspect of The Monterey International Pop Festival was a first: although the audience was predominantly white, Monterey's bill was truly multi-cultural and crossed all musical boundaries, mixing folk, blues, jazz, soul, R&B, rock, psychedelia, pop and classical genres, boasting a line-up that put established stars like The Mamas and the Papas, Simon & Garfunkel and The Byrds alongside groundbreaking new acts from the UK, the USA, South Africa and India.
Although already a big act in the UK, and gaining some attention in the US, Monterey was the concert that propelled The Who into the American mainstream. The band's famed performance was decided by a coin toss, since guitarists Pete Townshend and Jimi Hendrix each refused to go on after the other.
Hendrix ended his Monterey performance with an unpredictable version of "Wild Thing", which he capped by kneeling over his guitar, pouring lighter fluid over it, setting it aflame, and then smashing it.[5] This produced unforeseen sounds and these actions contributed to his rising popularity in the USA.
Monterey Pop was also one of the earliest major public performances for Janis Joplin, who appeared as a member of Big Brother and The Holding Company. Joplin was seen swigging from a bottle of Southern Comfort as she gave a provocative rendition of the song "Ball 'n' Chain". Columbia Records signed Big Brother and The Holding Company on the basis of their performance at Monterey.[5] "I became a supporter of feminism watching Janis Joplin at the Monterey Festival", says John McCleary, author of The Hippie Dictionary. "A lot of people had similar experiences watching female role models with that kind of power, unafraid to express themselves sexually while demanding their rights."
Monterey was the first time that soul star Otis Redding performed in front of a large and predominantly white audience in his home country. Redding, backed in his performance by Booker T. & The MG's, was included on the bill through the efforts of promoter Jerry Wexler, who saw the festival as an opportunity to advance Redding's career. " So this is the love crowd" was Redding's famous quote to the audience. Redding's show included his single "Respect" (which had become an even bigger hit for Aretha Franklin just weeks earlier). Although the festival finally gave Redding mainstream attention, it would be one of his last major performances. He died 6 months later in a plane crash at the age of 26.
Ravi Shankar was another artist who was introduced to America at the Monterey festival. Eighteen minutes of Dhun (Dadra and Fast Teental) an excerpt from Shankar's four-hour performance at the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival, concluded the Monterey Pop film, introducing the artist to a new generation of music fans.
The Mamas & the Papas performed the closing act of the festival as member John Phillips helped organize the festival. They also introduced several of the acts including Scott McKenzie. They played some of their biggest hits including Monday, Monday and California Dreamin'.
The festival launched the careers of many who played there, making some of them into stars virtually overnight. Some artists who rose to popularity following their appearances at Monterey included Janis Joplin, Laura Nyro, Canned Heat, Otis Redding, Steve Miller and Indian sitar maestro Ravi Shankar.
Monterey was also the first high-profile event to mix acts from major regional music centres in the U.S.A. — San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, Memphis and New York City — and it was the first time many of these bands had met each other in person. It was a particularly important meeting place for bands from the Bay Area and L.A., who had tended to regard each other with a degree of suspicion — Frank Zappa for one made no secret of his low regard for some of the San Francisco bands — and until that point the two scenes had been developing separately and along fairly distinct lines. Paul Kantner, of Jefferson Airplane, said, “The idea that San Francisco was heralding was a bit of freedom from oppression.”
Monterey also marked a significant changing of the guard in British music. The Who and Eric Burdon & The New Animals represented the UK, with The Beatles and The Rolling Stones conspicuous by their absence. The Beatles had by then retired from touring and The Stones were unable to tour America due the recent drug busts and trials of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards. The Stone's Brian Jones appeared on his own, wafting through the crowd, resplendent in full psychedelic regalia, and appearing on stage briefly to introduce Jimi Hendrix. As it transpired, it was two more years before The Stones toured again, by which time Jones was dead. The Beatles never toured again. Meanwhile, The Who leaped into the breach and became the top UK touring act of the period.
Also notable was the festival's innovative sound system, designed and built by audio engineer Abe Jacob, who started his career doing live sound for San Francisco bands and went on to become a leading sound designer for the American theatre. Jacob's groundbreaking Monterey sound system was the progenitor of all the large-scale PAs that followed[citation needed]. It was a key factor in the festival's success and it was greatly appreciated by the artists—in the Monterey film, David Crosby can clearly be seen saying "Great sound system!" to band-mate Chris Hillman at the start of The Byrds' performance.
Electronic music pioneers Paul Beaver and Bernie Krause set up a booth at Monterey to demonstrate the new electronic music synthesizer developed by Robert Moog. Beaver and Krause had bought one of Moog's first synthesizers in 1966 and had spent a fruitless year trying to get someone in Hollywood interested in using it. Through their demonstration booth at Monterey, they gained the interest of acts including The Doors, The Byrds, The Rolling Stones, Simon & Garfunkel and others. This quickly built into a steady stream of business and the eccentric Beaver was soon one of the busiest session men in L.A., and he and Krause earned a contract with Warner Brothers.
Eric Burdon and The Animals later that same year sang a song about the festival entitled "Monterey", which quoted a line from the Byrds song "Renaissance Fair" ("I think that maybe I'm dreamin'"). In the song, Burdon mentions Monterey performers The Byrds, Jefferson Airplane, Ravi Shankar, Jimi Hendrix, The Who, Hugh Masekela, The Grateful Dead, and The Rolling Stones' Brian Jones ("His Majesty Prince Jones smiled as he moved among the crowd"). The instruments used in the song imitate the styles of these performers.
Monterey International Pop Festival Performers
Friday, June 16
* The Association * The Paupers * Lou Rawls * Beverly * Johnny Rivers * Eric Burdon and The Animals * Simon and Garfunkel
Saturday, June 17
* Canned Heat * Big Brother and the Holding Company * Country Joe and the Fish * Al Kooper * The Butterfield Blues Band * The Electric Flag * Quicksilver Messenger Service * Steve Miller Band * Moby Grape * Hugh Masekela * The Byrds * Laura Nyro * Jefferson Airplane * Booker T. & the M.G.s * Otis Redding
Sunday, June 18
* Ravi Shankar * The Blues Project * Big Brother and the Holding Company * The Group With No Name * Buffalo Springfield * The Who * The Grateful Dead * The Jimi Hendrix Experience * Scott McKenzie * The Mamas & the Papas
Various Artists Performing At The Monterey Pop Festival
Jimi Hendrix - Like A Rolling Stone
Buffalo Springfield - For What It's Worth
The Byrds - Hey Joe
The Grateful Dead - Viola Lee Blues
Country Joe & the Fish
Quicksilver Messenger Service
The Mamas and the Papas - Somebody Groovy
Have a groovy vintage retro day!
- Retro Rebirth
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