Yeah, I was there.
While I've since become a huge fan of Ellington and Mingus, I didn't go to
hear them. I went to hear Jimmy Smith, Les McCann, Aretha Franklin, James
Cotton, B.B. King, Ray Charles, Miles Davis, and Cannonball Adderly.
Fri, July 2: A friend of mine owned a VW bus. He, his girlfriend, his girl
friend's sister and I (age 20) drove up from southern Connecticut on Friday
and drove up the hillside, where all the traffic was being directed. We
decided to park and camp for the night on the hill, from which we could see
the stage, and to wait until Saturday or Sunday to pay the admission price.
I don't remember hearing Buddy Rich, Duke Ellington, Roberta Flack or Stan
Kenton that Friday. But we camped that night on the hillside amidst tents
of other young people all drinking and doing drugs. In the middle of the
night I recall motorcycles racing around among the tents, and hearing
screams, and being scared to death because it was pitch black, the
assumption being that the cyclists couldn’t possibly avoid running people
over.
Sat, July
3: We awoke in the morning to the news that there was a hospital tent open
and that many people were in it, most due to drug overdoses. There were
reports of bad acid having played a big part in the hospitalizations.
According to your website, the music began Saturday at 2 p.m. with Freddie
Hubbard and Charles Mingus. (Sadly, I don’t remember them.) But I do
remember hearing Eubie Blake and Willie “the Lion” Smith that afternoon - a
huge thrill for me.. That evening, I remember hearing Dave Brubeck,
followed by Dionne Warwick – and it was during Dionne Warwick’s performance
that a mass of campers who'd been camped on the hill – having observed that
there remained empty seats among the folding chairs reserved for those who’d
actually paid the price of admission – decided to simply storm the venue and
take these better seats. Masses of young people ran down the hill, across
the narrow street, and began climbing the chain link fence. When police
cars occupied the road to prevent such access, people jumped on the hoods of
the police cars and started jumping up and down. After warnings, police on
both sides of the chain link fence started using billyclubs to hit the
fingers of those trying to climb the fence. I believe a few persistent
people made it over the fence. While I have a recollection of the fence
giving way and large numbers making it through where it had collapsed, that
may actually just be my imagination at work, confusing it with other events
of that era.. Somehow, I was shocked when, eventually, Dionne Warwicke
stopped singing – amidst loud protests from the crowd on the hill that the
music ought to be open to all, and that, with empty seats going unoccupied
inside, it was “unfair” to let those seats go unused while people were
forced to remain on the hill for free. After some time, the announcement
was made that the Festival had been cancelled. People returned to their
tents amidst a huge amount of grumbling about the unfairness of it all.
Sun, July
4, 1971: We woke to the sound of police megaphones ordering us to pack up
and leave, as (unbeknownst to us) we were on private property. There was
more grumbling and a general aversion to leaving. After all, we ourselves
had not engaged in any of the misconduct (apparently, apart from being on
private property) and having driven a long way to get there, having our
hearts set on good music, and having been willing to buy tickets until we
realized what great seats were available on the hillside for free, we shared
the notion that we would leave when we were ready to – i.e., after cleaning
up, putting food and coffee in our bellies, etc. But the instruction to
vacate was soon followed by tear gas, which proved very effective in getting
all of us moving very quickly. It was a huge disappointment to me, I'd
already seen Miles and some others, and would later hear most of the rest,
but the cancellation of the event in that wonderful venue was so sad, and to
think it was because of the misbehavior of a selfish crowd, well, I guess I
didn't deserve the privlege of hearing Eubie Blake and Willie the Lion. But
kudos to the promoters who make such things possible, sometimes, despite
problematic fans.
