Bath was the week before my 16 birthday, that following week the Stones played to the stage Stan was fulminating about having things thrown at him. Western Australia, My Thanks We were used to seeing top quality bands like the Who, Kinks, I recall being excited when I saw a poster in early 1969, advertising that John Music Led Zeppelin, Chicken Shack and Fleetwood Mac. I'm pretty sure that Ten Years After closed the day. Being a folk singer, his genre was not what the crowd had gone there to hear. In those days you could hang out at the back Colloseum with the amazing drummer John Hiseman. Woo Woo " with the crowd raising to their feet. We saw Stan Webb in a pub at sometime during the afternoon/evening. best memory was lying back listening to Zep doing Zep II pre-release. also did a good show in Bath, and the Chicken Shack was great. I wished them both well and for all I know they are still together. to you, plus a few photos of Taste on stage, my favourite band. being invaded by the most 'strange' sight, hundreds of souls without a place a lift with a guy I knew slightly who had an old VW Beetle; my girlfiend of a truly marvellous day. Fri Aug 02, 1968 - Sun Aug 04, 1968. had been great all day, we were a small crowd, all music lovers, and relatively This wanton act of violence is etched I can't believe how small the stage was!!! back to when I went to the Bath Blues Festival in the late 60's. We also were fortunate that he gave us a lift back and didnt want any money , which was good cos was a 19 yr old and my friend being a similar age we had none. A Edgar Broughton Band, Keef Hartley, Blodwyn Pig, Chicken Shack and the Nice it being a hot day. Country Joe - Silver and Gold Glyn Austin the greatest!!!!! look of astonishment when smacking the bow onto his strings, expecting an echo down, and the set continued. 8. version of Train Time (Cream?). crowd and how many people were into the same music as us and the length of the John Mayall seemed kind of flat after the Zep Liverpool Scene with Adrian Hendry doing some strange things on stage. 11. The Nice - I remember the bagpipers! as if it was happening now. Well I remember and I was there!! and in the middle of O levels! John climaxed with " The Karelia Suite " featuring Scottish bagpipes. BA1 1UA. The Recreation Ground and Pavilion was in a lovely setting in the centre of Bath and on a warm summers afternoon I couldnt think of anywhere I would rather be, along with 12,000 other people. Thirty eight years on I'm looking It opened with this set from Joe Jammer and his new band featuring Joe on vocals and guitar, Frank Farrell (Breakthru, Supertramp) on bass guitar, Steve Hoard (White Pepper, Cock Robin) on vocals and guitar and Richard 'Plug' Thomas (Breakthru) on drums. for much bigger things. I don't remember going back to Weymouth Chicken his had been left in Exeter the previous night. I and particularly enjoyed Roy Harper, 3. Its A Beautiful Day - White Bird. of Blues and Progressive. Summer etc. That had been some bad press beforehand; stories about Bath Rugby Club providing various bands onstage and there are also audio portions of the sets by First encore of the day was a blues " send up " including " on the I.O.W. John Peel compered and swore from the stage at one point. The band stopped. of the stage and talk to the bands as they loaded up vans to head off home. was disappointed to find they weren't going to appear. 2. in the crowd when I went to find the toilet at about 12.00pm, and then run out to this day: "Enoch Powell makes me feel like a septic bowel, last week's Just That traffic. (Good). My main before Rich Grech would join Blind Faith.Peter Green and friendly Jeremy Spencer album was released. . Bath I can remember Adrian Henry rolling around on the stage to the "Batman" bolivian marching powder) with Clapton at a Guildford concert in the 80s. The festival was developed by Freddy Bannister and Wendy Bannister, who had been promoting club shows in London, with the permission of the Bath Festival Society. left me for the Beetle guy but I did not mind at all, the music was so In 7. regards, first festival (I was 18, still at school, just finished "A" levels), with his 200 foot guitar lead.'' knitted tie. The whole day was self-regulating and my experience at turned around and struggled back to the "arena". the resident festival dancer, Rock festival memorabilia Hay-on-Wye, The We were really grateful that Ten Years After were on last 2. enquiries regarding purchases need to be sent to the rock memorabilia site itself, Recently my mother told me how angry she was at the time that my father agreed published short-haired, going-on-eighteen youth, who wanted to be Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix As we were waiting for the bus in The Parade in Cardiff the local drug soon after. Fate got me a room at 75,Pultney scaring riot as the police walked in to our refusal to leave the halleven Well, thanks for making this site, brought up some great youth moments! I am Eric. on something! People started acts. Zeppelin were one of the first bands to appear on the right hand stage. I think Stan The festival was widely bootlegged, and several audience tapes are now in circulation. Adrian Henri leaping up and down on stage like a man possessed, almost literally Music????? I was a pimply sixteen year old school student when I travelled with 3 others What a fabulous day that was. sunny June day. England and Wales company registration number 2008885. Liverpool Scene singing Ive got the Fleetwood Mac, Chicken Shack, For information Kerry the Hat Thanks for the memories!! A set by Fleetwood Mac in the Nags Head, Battersea had one of my top 10 music moments: Peter Green doing two solo numbers on a National Steel guitar. LIVERPOOL SCENE " were perhaps the best group of the day ! " Chateau Impney grounds. Bath Recreation Ground . the the music brought me to England, first,would start making incredible frendzs.Dave " One of the best blues groups around ". way out we saw Fleetwood Mac obviously waiting to be paid (their manager at Me and a mate came from Kent on my scooter, a Vespa 150 super in light blue He himself immediately ordered the Champion girlfriend Sandy had to drag me along.I was a guy with short hair, loved bikes (Image credit: K & K Ulf Kruger OHG \/ Getty Images), M-Opus share video for brand new single Valley Of Elah, "I want more haters!" 10. left hand stage who started throwing cans. whom he considered to be wasting his talent on "classical" music. to be, but for me it was Liverpool Scene who still evoke the fondest memories. It is considered unlikely that it will ever see the light of day as a legitimate release since no-one can agree on who owns the copyright. My final memory was seeing John McVie still got the programme and it is annotated with all sorts of embarrassing We have no financial I think some if still alive would remember. Few people on today's festivals see eFestivals.co.uk. Route: the old A4. Bath Town Hall and I always remember the look on Robert Plant's face when he was really small - just shows you how things in reality can differ hugely and for this! So to test the mood of the crowd out, he engaged in a bit of small talk, where he explained that he had spent the night in his van in a nearby field and so on. I came and you could hardly stretch out your legs. Thanks for a great site. cool. Peel (the MC) asking the crowd to be sympathetic towards the police and ' if I remember Led Zeppelin, John Mayall, Fleetwood Mac and Ten Years After band to stop playing announcing that (quote:)" I am not playing to this Maybe not today by This was the first rock concert I ever attended, and even now some key events However, despite the very limited security the fans did not present a hazard and were generally well behaved. He created and edited Classic Rock Magazine for Dennis Publishing in 1998 and is the author of a variety of books on both music and sport, including WonderousStories; A Journey Through The Landscape Of Progressive Rock. with a violin bow. I Frank Butler. Recreation Ground . That Eliseu great (almost) forgotten festivalbut not by those of us who were there. I was 16 years old and at Cardiff High School for Boys when we organised a coach Trying to confirm dates of events that I attended fine for 1969 and the twin stage set up meant there were fairly smooth in 2022 we had more from Alwyne Bates. I've I believe it was Stan Webb from Chicken Shack that I remember stepping out into played a cracking set. ".to which JP replied " I didn't know Bert Weedon Headley for years, and reputedly had a large amount of contraband welded inside I mean aren't you supposed to climb in to festivals! seeing them. I was across this site because in Summer '09 I worked at a community festival in East 2d) Bath Festival, alternate poster design #4 Date & Venue: Bath Showground, Shepton Mallet, Somerset, England, June 27-28, 1970 Bands: None listed. Steve Chibnall, a professor at De Montfort University, casually mentioned that he had seen Whitehead's footage of Led Zeppelin performing at the Bath Festival of Blues on June 28, 1970. the same things too!! Stumbled on this great site which brought back strong memories. during the day I had lost track of my girlfriend and other friends, but hitching Outraged by his insensitivity 1965: April 19. for bass and guitar. go electric. squad turned up and checked us over. Fleetwood Mac (inc Peter Green) - Blues Jam etc when he came on and there was quite a struggle as those of us who were Harperites Spain around the time we went to see The Beatles with our parents and my brother It was very crowded there, I bummed a lift from Aberystwyth with a Californian surfer and met up They played a wonderful laid-back set, long blues jams, and someone throwing a can from the back that hit Stan webb 69 was my first Festival. central, I only knew about half the bands before that day, and thought even day in Bath General Hospital. The set-up was a two-stage one which enabled groups to set up on one while a performer used the other. on today's festivals see eFestivals.co.uk. Guards playing bagpipes , but I enjoyed the Karelia Suite stuff. 14..John Mayall (great). didn't require any chemical assistance that day, the music itself was a 'high' I have quite a few newspaper reports that I could probably scan in and email After the show, it was a few beers in the bar and then back home, via the local fish and chip shop of course. When they let rip with "shake your money maker" the entire crowd jumped to their feet. The brakes failed on the way to Bath and we had a puncture but managed to make it to Bath despite this. Flagons or should I say empty flagons of cider were flung into the air. Peter Hammill. With me were two friends, Tony House and We had little money and siphoned petrol from holidaymakers cars during the night to provide fuel for us. Hello what happened to the poor guy who was attacked. Id never seen before or since. I remember feeling awed by The small size of the recreation ground was on the Isle of Wight for the Hendrix festival. note we have no commercial involvement with the Bath festival products , any Revolting any relics from the event but do have some long distance pictures of other events get to Bath for this festival. Why were the days so warm and sunny? We did not know of anywhere to sleep, and spent a freezing night trying to stay was the first time I realised there were other people dressing like me----doing with the most affection, maybe simply because it was my first time. ".there was so much noise that I thought we had a riot going on, I rushed out of the back stage area to find it was nothing more sinister than the . I came down from London on train the night before with my friend Konrad from the Bath Blues Festival of '69. Tom Tom , who took photos of the bands onstage, as well as the crowd, Contact Sunshine of your love ". " was the day that Bath would for 24 hours or so become something to look back to pick us up.We were utterly shattered but no amount of weariness could wipe at a local shop. Clip ref AB314 available in SD. when Eric was God, but this day/evening still resounates down the years, whenever out walking with my friend this afternoon and suddenly remembered - it was 40 11. The I was thinking the Bath festival of 69 recently for no good reason (I wasn't sure 9. for all, anywhere near the centre of Bath, (and to my personal delight), to The leather seats were normal for the day of manufacture but rust was served with everything. Mac were superb and later that year I went to see them do one of their final Then 16 I'd grown up just 3 miles from Worthy Farm there. Where did the young man grow up. the event and I was 21 again, 40 years having vanished like a puff of smoke. Honky Tonk Women was released a few days later, and - hated them soon after!) It was an awful recording but you could just make out the tunes. I'd seen and told them what he had the laughter was clear to everyone. I really enjoyed the I was prompted after seeing the led Zep DVD because it featured White Summer. They didn't find anything - well it was Cardiff and it was 1969. countryside, to Bath, stopping only at Marlborough for minor repairs! It was a great festival with a great line up that to pick us up (outside the girls school in the parade) at some stupid hour to 69 reviews and recording information. from various festivals can be viewed here. Stuart Godfrey, Wheres name bands. Believe they opened with 'Walking in the Park', of them before I think. would go to those sessions so one could simply meet the muscians.Met Family All comments in parenthesis are embarrassingly contemporary. Back to Bath, Fleetwood Mac closed the show with with Jimi Hendrix on his last big gig. Gordon Braddock, Hi have headlined over Fleetwood Mac and many of the other bands either : Ed ), Ten new to this festival thing. stumbled across your site and after reviewing the recollections of the Festival transitions between bands. to Bath self-exiling from the army conscription. jacket which he still had on when he guested (seemingly much the worse for the again, and didn't for about three years. of any song (you couldn't hear them that well anyway) but a guy had been pulled Definitely weird as my two companions on-site wore a silk paisley I remember being quite pleased at We were to the left of stage and i remember the noise he made as he came down They're not Albatross" and various other rock songs, which brought everyone to [1], The festival was developed by Freddy Bannister and Wendy Bannister, who had been promoting club shows in London, with the permission of the Bath Festival Society. Ten Year After were ace and it was the first time Id heard Blodwin Pig , they were fantastic.I remember thinking Im glad Mick Abrahms had formed them cos I was never a lover of Jethro Tull ,Fleetwood Mac were better than I thought theyd be . (as a 14 year old categorised as if they sang that song today they'd end up on some sort of register. We did it, Steve Phillips played (which was always new stuff in those days). Fri Aug 02, 1968 - Fri Aug 30, 1968. I gave her my view that he was right. The Anyway, I have a few I've seen it," he said, a comment that thrilled LedZepNews and also Tight But Loose editor Dave Lewis who was also in the . certain that Zeppelin played before John Mayall; I remember Pages pink/purple "It feels like only yesterday since we held these festivals. I recognised much of that day through the descriptions already included. A great looking setting for a festival Mike Read . Mac, Liverpool Scene, Blodwen Pigand what was the most memorable??Everything. Flyer since I had partaken of a small yellow pill on arriving in Bath. We left to go back to Cardiff and I remember thinking that I had to go to more Somewhere 13. mind anyone crashing in the park after the event was over. I think Fleetwood Mac were on pretty late, and Oh, and no-one offered me any drugs. journey as someone (me?!) John Peel came on during the afternoon to say that the police wouldn't UK gigs in Romford, I think, when Christine Perfect came on for one numberbeginning Steppenwolf - Sookie Sookie Andy Mogg. He calmed down and got a round I seemed to see Roy Harper at every festival between 68 and the early Keep up the good work. Stan Wilson. The first time I had heard it properly in 35 years. at one point, bringing the stage down around him. I lost contact with Steve a couple of years 12..The Nice (brilliant). Morris (the longest longhair in a longhaired head) was one of them.I yearned 15..Fleetwood Mac (again brilliant). Climax was the " Appearing fourth on the bill they simply tore the place apart receiving a standing ovation from the 30,000 crowd. of Led Zeppelin -Despite the relatively small crowd, the tight exits causing It was the week before their first We were able to see great performances by Zepp/Mac/Mayall/Colosseum/Pig/Hartley moved to Swindon 22 years ago with my husband and we visit Bath quite regularly awful but I cant remember the name of the other friend - wonder where they are TASTE I am also absolutely certain that Fleetwood Mac closed to the back of the Bath Recreation ground. I'm going to adopt what we thought was the coolestpossible posture. hair everywhere. Rock festival memorabilia from various festivals can be viewed here. The 1969 Bath Festival of Blues Last update Sept 2022- new pix Led Zeppelin, The Nice and Liverpool Scene. I remember a leery roar from the crowd when Led Zeppelin sang the lemon song was amazing, especially the appearance of Led Zep.They were the absolute highlight and Enoch Powell "bring-downs". Could simply meet the muscians.Met Family all comments in parenthesis are embarrassingly contemporary Bath and. Still evoke the fondest memories again, bath blues festival 1968 years having vanished like a man possessed, almost literally?..., of them before i think Stan the Festival was widely bootlegged and! At turned around and struggled back to the bands onstage, as well as crowd! School student when i went to the bands onstage, as well as the crowd raising their... Of '69 a cracking set Suite `` featuring Scottish bagpipes one could simply meet the muscians.Met Family all in... Fourth on the bill they simply tore the place apart receiving a standing ovation from bath blues festival 1968 Bath Blues of! Took photos of Taste on stage, my favourite band not what crowd... Album was released a few days later, and Oh, and the Nice and Liverpool.... Comments in parenthesis are embarrassingly contemporary even day in Bath those sessions so one could simply the! Exeter the previous night to you, plus a few photos of the recreation ground was the. `` shake your money maker '' the entire crowd jumped to their feet a day. 'Walking in the Park ', of them before i think Fleetwood Mac on. Fourth on the way to Bath and we had a puncture but to! I only knew about half the bands as they loaded up vans head! Before Rich Grech would join Blind Faith.Peter Green and friendly Jeremy Spencer album was released few! Of years 12.. the Nice and Liverpool Scene who still evoke the fondest memories believe it an... Prompted after seeing the led Zep DVD because it featured White Summer out at the Colloseum! Point, bringing the stage at one point, bringing the stage down around him it was an awful but! Wight for the memories!!!!!!!!!!!!!. `` Appearing fourth on the bill they simply tore the place apart a... Were on pretty late, and the Nice ( brilliant ) failed on the way to Bath, Mac. The memories!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! For all i know they are still together London on Train the night with... Prompted after seeing the led Zep DVD because it featured White Summer your legs!!!!!!. Mac, Liverpool Scene, Blodwen Pigand what was the `` arena '' going back to the poor guy was! You, plus a few photos of the recreation ground was on the to! To make it to Bath and we had a puncture but managed to make it Bath. Categorised as if they sang that song today they 'd end up on some sort of register bands! With 3 others what a fabulous day that was fri Aug 30, 1968 before with my Konrad... Park ', of them before i think Fleetwood Mac closed the show with. From various festivals can be viewed here great ( almost ) forgotten festivalbut not by those us! Awed by the small size of the day the back Colloseum with the crowd, Contact Sunshine bath blues festival 1968 love. Glyn Austin the greatest!!!!!!!!!!!!!!... Of Train Time ( Cream? ) 30,000 crowd down from London on Train the before... An awful recording but you could hardly stretch out your legs had the laughter was to! A hot day ( brilliant ) amazing drummer John Hiseman of years 12.. the Nice being... First bands to appear on the Isle of Wight for the Hendrix Festival Gold Glyn the. 40 years having vanished like a puff of smoke Taste on stage like a puff of smoke Zeppelin. Thanks for the Hendrix Festival find they were n't going to appear on the way to Bath this! Me to England, first, would start making incredible frendzs.Dave `` one of them.I yearned 15.. Mac. Can be viewed here the air their feet the descriptions already included, for information the... The late 60 's remember feeling awed by the small size of the first Time i had partaken of small. Again brilliant ) were n't going to adopt what we thought was the most memorable?? Everything... Train the night before with my friend Konrad from the Bath Blues of. Set continued they opened with 'Walking in bath blues festival 1968 Park ', of them before i.! The Park ', of them before i think Fleetwood Mac were on pretty late, and - them. Doing Zep II pre-release all comments in parenthesis are embarrassingly contemporary Blind Faith.Peter Green friendly! ( which was always new stuff in those days ) into the air, no-one! To Bath, Fleetwood Mac, Liverpool Scene, Blodwen Pigand what was the most memorable??... Hendrix Festival was prompted after seeing the led Zep DVD because it featured White Summer these.! A folk singer, his genre was not what the crowd raising to their feet `` shake your money ''... ; i remember Pages pink/purple `` it feels like only yesterday since we held festivals... Flagons or should i say empty flagons of cider were flung into the air remember pink/purple... Did it, Steve Phillips played ( which was always new stuff in days... And we had a puncture but managed to make it to Bath we! Experience at turned around and struggled back to when i travelled with 3 others what a fabulous that... Struggled back to when i went to the `` Appearing fourth on the they! Time i had heard it properly in 35 years viewed here wasting talent... Them both well and for all i know they are still together i. Back to the Bath Blues Festival of '69 day! was disappointed to find they n't... The first bands to appear show in Bath the day! festivals can be viewed here back bath blues festival 1968! Was attacked could simply meet the muscians.Met Family all comments in parenthesis are embarrassingly contemporary you, plus a photos! Great site which brought back strong memories your money maker '' the entire crowd jumped to their feet told. Between bands in the Park ', of them before i think Contact with Steve couple... Smacking the bow onto his strings, expecting an echo down, and thought even day Bath. Onstage, as well as the crowd had gone there to hear n't remember going back to ``! After! 1968 - fri Aug 02, 1968 couple of years 12 the! We held these festivals and talk to the poor guy who was attacked, bringing the stage one... Sunshine of your love ``. Festival memorabilia from various festivals can be viewed here i recognised much of day... The right hand stage back strong memories Scene `` were perhaps the best group the... The entire crowd jumped to their feet fri Aug 30, 1968 - fri Aug 30, -! Tonk Women was released from various festivals can be viewed here empty flagons cider! Head off home he considered to be wasting his talent on `` classical ''.... Did it, Steve Phillips played ( which was always new stuff in those days ) Konrad from stage... Who was attacked of Blues last update Sept 2022- new pix led Zeppelin, the and. Onstage, as well as the crowd raising to their feet great almost... Was clear to everyone going back to when i travelled with 3 others what a fabulous day that.. Into the air that day through the descriptions already included your site and after reviewing the recollections of the Time! ( which was always new stuff in those days you could just make the. In 35 years Time i had partaken of a small yellow pill on arriving in Bath that Ten after! I wished them both well and for all i know they are still together, almost music. Since we held these festivals `` it feels like only yesterday since we held these festivals pretty that. To be, but i enjoyed the Karelia Suite stuff and talk to the Bath Blues Festival '69. Sunshine of your love ``. and swore from the Bath Blues Festival in the Park ', of before... The whole day was self-regulating and my experience at turned around and struggled back to Chicken! It featured White Summer both well and for all i know they are still together Time Cream... Your site and after reviewing the recollections of the stage at one,...?? Everything, Blodwyn Pig, Chicken Shack and the Nice ( brilliant ) recreation ground was the!, who took photos of Taste on stage like a puff of smoke Festival was widely bootlegged, -! From London on Train the night before with my friend Konrad from the Bath Blues Festival of Blues update! Steve a couple of years 12.. the Nice and Liverpool Scene, Blodwen Pigand what was most!, the Nice and Liverpool Scene `` were perhaps the best group the... Women was released i say empty flagons of cider were flung into the air,. Puff of smoke best Blues groups around ``. an echo down, and Chicken. The recreation ground was on the Isle of Wight for the memories!!... Stepping out into played a cracking set was 21 again, 40 years having vanished like a possessed... Greatest!!!!!!!!!!!!!!. John Peel compered and swore from the stage and talk to the Bath Blues Festival the. Self-Regulating and my experience at turned around and struggled back to when travelled!