First Festival!?

 Never forgotten this experience again thanks to John Northcote (Sunshine Records Oxford, Virgin Records and then Clubs and venues in the Big Smoke; Brixton Academy and Break for the Border venues in London - legend!) and his lovely wife of the time and we arrived that Friday night and stayed in some farmer’s barn for an attempt at a ‘kip' then finding our places near the front of the crowd as far as memory is concerned I was awoken at what felt like 3.00am (I swear it was dark still!) to Canned Heat and the rest is history! Stand outs Pink Floyd, Johnny Winter The Airplane, Santana, Dr John, Country Joe . . .remember every single appearance . . . . which curiously cannot be said of further open air gigs and festivals!  Not my first gig but maybe the first festival? I was 17!

 

The Bath Festival of Blues and Progressive Music SHEPTON MALLET 1970

It always gives me a thrill to see this and I went to this as possibly my first festival with old pals John and Heather and an early girlfriend from school

I remember pretty much everyone!

We arrived Friday night and stayed in some kind of farmer’s coop type shed with multi-tiered levels perhaps a large barn but by the time we got to a place down the front of the stage we were woken at what I thought was about 3.00am in the dark still by Canned Heat; 'Let’s Work Together', 'Going Up The Country' and I was hooked. Highpoints as I recall were The Floyd, Johnny Winter (still dark was it evening?) Fairport, Keef Hartley Band (who we loved!) then Airplane, Sanatana, Dr John, Country Joe.  On the Saturday I recall waking up pretty much subsumed by the ground and my sleeping bag doing its best to drag me under the soil, but awoke on top of a really cool denim jacket with a bag of weed in it I tried to find anyone sitting nearby who may have lost said garment and the canabis but nope, so we passed it round! I was 17

Happy Days!