Atlanta International Pop Festival (1970)
The second Atlanta International Pop Festival was a music festival held at the Middle Georgia Raceway in Byron, Georgia. Originally scheduled for July 3 to July 5, 1970, it did not finish until near dawn on the 6th.[1] It was the only successor to the first Atlanta International Pop Festival 1969. The event was promoted by Alex Cooley, who had organised the same event the previous year, as well as the Texas International Pop Festival
Like the Woodstock festival the previous summer, the event was promoted as "three days of peace, love and music." Tickets for the festival were priced at $14. Also like Woodstock, it became an "open event" when the promoter threw open the gates after crowds outside began to tear down the plywood fence that had been erected around the site.[1] An estimated 350,000 to 500,000,[2] and possibly 600,000[1] people attended.
Performers included The Allman Brothers Band, Jethro Tull (scheduled but did not perform, citing laryngitis), Terry Reid, B.B. King, Procol Harum, Jimi Hendrix, Chambers Brothers, Poco, Grand Funk Railroad, Captain Beefheart(scheduled but canceled), Ravi Shankar, Ten Years After, Johnny Winter, John Sebastian, Mountain, and Spirit.[1][2][3] Jimi Hendrix played his rendition of the Star Spangled Banner for the fireworks around midnight on the Fourth of July.[1] Local Atlanta bands Radar and the Hampton Grease Band also performed.
Interestingly the Anunga Runga Tribe of the Musical HAIR, which had performed for two weeks in April 1970, on the campus of Memphis State University, was one of the last if not the last group to perform. The 43 member Tribe of college students, waited until dawn on Sunday morning, and performed right after Richie Havens.
In 2003, The Allman Brothers Band released a recording of their festival opening and closing performances, Live at the Atlanta International Pop Festival: July 3 & 5, 1970.
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d e West, Kirk (11 September 2002),Liner notes, Live at the Atlanta International Pop Festival: July 3 & 5, 1970
- ^ a b Richard L. Eldredge FOR THE JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION, Arts & Entertainment: "What a splash: Recalling Georgia's 'Woodstock'"., The Atlanta Journal and Constitution, 07-04-1995, pp E/07.
- ^ Concert Poster
Additional performers: Bethlehem Asylum, Bloodrock, The Chambers Brothers
[edit] External links
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