There was an article in Yorkshire Live about what we called the Halifax Festival back in 1970. I was there, and it was horrific! Rain, mud… As I remember now, our tent collapsed during the night, and – not having a sewn-in groundsheet – we’d all slide out at some point! I think we gave it up as a bad job in the end.
I went to quite a few festivals in the early 70s, but have VERY little memory of them – and especially who the hell I must have heard play, according to the cast list. There was the “Hollywood” festival in 1970 (actually somewhere near Stoke-on-Trent), which might have been my first. Memorable for (a) stopping off at some motorway services and randomly finding a lad from Scunthorpe who I’d met earlier that summer while working at Lysaghts steel works (b) meeting a bunch of freaks including Phil (aka “PI”, which he hated”, great bloke) from Stratford-on-Avon, (c) Grateful Dead being atrocious and allegedly handing out spiked acid; but mostly for (d) Mungo Jerry’s performance, which went down a storm, and had everyone up and bopping.
Following on from getting to know that Phil, there was a brilliant visit to (I’m going to have to check up on details of all these later) the festival near Shepton Mallet (the precursor of Glastonbury?). We got down there in the back of an open lorry from Leamington Spa, owned by a friend of Phil’s. Maybe six of us started out, but must have been about a couple of dozen by the time we’d picked up hitchhikers along the way (a beautiful drive through Broadway and the Cotswolds). Of course, I have no recollection of what bands we saw!
Other festivals… I did Reading twice, I think, hitching down from Oxford. There was Bardney (for which Phil was supposed to be coming up to Brigg and to return my Bob Dylan Songbook, but he never arrived and we had no further contact), where we saw James Taylor singing in a field; and some festival (in Essex) with Pete Schulz. All I can remember for now.