The Atlanta Pop Festival turns 40…
Check photog, Philip Rauls account of the storied festival.
In what is widely regarded as one of the top concerts events of all time, the Atlanta International Pop Festival of 1969 was held over the Fourth Of July weekend at the Atlanta International Raceway. The concert featured the entertainment industry’s top bands and attracted extremely large crowds from distant locations. Attendance for the Atlanta Pop, as it would be later coined, ranged from estimates of over 100,000 people to 250,000. The concert was organizied by promoter Alex Cooley and set the stage for the greater acknowledged Woodstock Festival which took place later that summer. The holiday weekend event was canvassed by a heat wave that soared to temperatures of over 100 degrees and set-up an additional story within. Yet strangely enough, only a few photographers have captured this historic milestone and put the landmark event into documentation form. With that being the case, several months back I was speaking with my friend Carter Tomassi, a well-respected photographer who has also chronicled the pop festival on his web site. Carter suggested that I post an updated story on my blog in honor of the 40th anniversary timeline. So, with his recommendation in mind, I decided to piece together a photo journal of previously unviewed festival photographs and share with fellow concert attendees and loyal PHOTOLOG blog enthusiasts. (more…)
R.I.P. — Bob “The Bear” Hite (1943-1981)
Canned Heat’s blues shouter and vocalist, Bob Hite died of a heart attack at the age of 36 on this date in 1981. Here’s Bob with the band in the summer of ’69:
Happy Birthday — Bob “The Bear” Hite
Avid blues record collector, frontman, blues harpist and vocalist/shouter for Canned Heat was born on this day in 1945. Here’s “The Bear” with Canned Heat and Hef from “Playboy After Dark”.
Spotlight: Alan “The Blind Owl” Wilson
I wrote a piece for Hidden Track on Canned Heat founder and guitarist, Alan “The Blind Owl” Wilson, who lived a very unusual nd interesting life. Check it out here.
Atlanta Pop Festival (1969-1970)
Spanning the fourth of July celebrations of 1969 and 1970, the Atlanta Pop Festival, predated Woodstock and was an astounding collection of musical acts and personalities from a very different time. Some noteworthy performers were: Janis Joplin, Canned Heat, Led Zeppelin, Allman Brothers Band, Jimi Hendrix, Jethro Tull, BB King, Johnny Winter, Spirit, Grand Funk Railroad. Click here to go to this comprehensive site that chronicles the weekend through photos and stories of this legendary festival.
Jimi Hendrix at the festival performing “Stone Free” and “The Star Spangled Banner” on July 4, 1970 amidst festival fireworks:
Canned Heat — Playboy After Dark
Here’s one of the great overlooked bands of the 1960′s and 1970′s, Canned Heat. Comprised of Bob “The Bear” Hite, Alan “Blind Owl” Wilson (guitar), Larry “The Mole” Taylor, Fito de La Parra & Henry Vestine. The band suffered its first blow in 1970 when Alan Wilson commited suicide. Wilson was responsible for the unique tenor voice on the two of the band’s biggest hits, “On The Road Again” and “Up The Country”. The band played at the Newport Pop festival, Woodstock recorded several great albums including one with the blues great, John Lee Hooker entitled, Hooker-N-Heat. Lineup and personnel changes throughout the 1970′s typified life for Canned Heat, until “The Bear” died in 1981. Canned Heat still plays today, lacking its founding members, but still imploring those who come to see them, to not “forget to boogie”.
Here’s a bonus clip of Canned Heat at Woodstock:
