It’s been 50 years since 1000’s gathered in upstate New York to have fun three days of peace and music on the first Woodstock pageant, and but there was one other three-day pageant that 12 months, held simply three weeks previous to Woodstock, that always will get forgotten: Seattle Pop Competition.
From 25 to 27 July 1969, native promoter Boyd Grafmyre staged Seattle Pop at Gold Creek Park in Woodinville, Washington, only a few miles exterior of Seattle. It was the second profitable main rock pageant to happen in Washington inside lower than a 12 months, after Grafmyre had beforehand helped manage the historic Sky River Rock Competition in 1968.
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The 12 months of the music pageant
1969 was the 12 months of the musical pageant: Denver Pop Competition was adopted by Atlanta Pop Competition after which Seattle Pop Competition, all main as much as Woodstock.
The idea behind Seattle Pop was to have 25 acts play over three days. Typically going to nice lengths to attain his bold objective, Grafmyre chartered a helicopter to fly The Doorways from Seattle’s airport to the pageant grounds, whereas renting a Cadillac convertible for Chuck Berry – the rock’n’roll pioneer’s most popular methodology of transportation.
For $6 a day – or $15 for the entire weekend – you possibly can catch Led Zeppelin breaking America, and marvel at homegrown legends The Byrds, blues icon Bo Diddley, The Flying Burrito Brothers, Tim Buckley, The Guess Who, Santana, Ike, and Tina Turner, Vanilla Fudge, Alice Cooper, and Chicago Transit Authority (who later turned Chicago), amongst many different rock luminaries and psychedelic acts of the day.
An estimated 50,000-70,000 festivalgoers descended upon Gold Creek Park to take pleasure in relative peace, music and “a certain quantity of nudity”, stated Grafmyre. As one of many first festivals to forego hiring police or off-duty officers as safety, Grafmyre enlisted The Black Panthers to patrol Seattle Pop – a a lot smoother operation than Hells Angels’ offered at Altamont only a few months later, in December.
‘Sunday night time was speculated to belong to The Doorways’
The Seattle Pop Competition’s line-up was a mixture of established acts, native teams from the Pacific Northwest, and even jazz legend Charles Lloyd. Some acts, like Led Zeppelin, went on to develop into rock legends, whereas others light into obscurity, equivalent to Crome Syrcus, a psychedelic Pacific Northwest band that broke up in 1973 and stay finest recognized for his or her singles “Love Cycle” and “Take It Like a Man.”
Whereas The Doorways, The Byrds, and The Ike And Tina Turner Revue had been among the many most highly-anticipated acts of the pageant, it was actually Led Zeppelin who emerged because the spotlight. England’s hottest new act had been simply on the cusp of fame in America once they performed Seattle Pop.
“Sunday night time was speculated to belong to The Doorways however it was stolen proper out from underneath them by the good English blues group, Led Zeppelin,” wrote Patrick MacDonald for the Seattle Put up-Intelligencer.
“Coming onstage after the compelled extravaganza of The Doorways, the Zeppelin confronted a jaded and uncomfortable viewers that had been standing within the chilly all night. However the electrical energy of lead singer Robert Plant and guitarist Jimmy Web page shortly warmed them up.
“Plant has a voice that’s managed hysteria. Anguish pours from his each observe; his voice is an epitome of the blues. Web page is a tremendous guitarist. His runs and fingering are magnificent, his management of the instrument pure genius.
Few who skilled it’ll neglect Led Zeppelin’s efficiency, particularly their smashing encore of ‘Communication Breakdown’.”
The “compelled extravaganza” MacDonald writes of refers to one in all Jim Morrison’s less-inspired performances, wherein The Doorways frontman spent the present heckling the group and shouting obscenities earlier than ending the set’s finale, “The Finish,” in a Christ-like pose.
A watershed second for the counterculture
Morrison’s antics apart, the remainder of the performances had been equally electrifying. The Flying Burrito Brothers performed a blistering set, nonetheless driving excessive off their landmark debut album, The Gilded Palace Of Sin. Shortly after Seattle Pop Competition, nonetheless, the Burritos’ bassist Chris Ethridge left the band, turning their efficiency into a vital doc of their authentic line-up.
Wearing a daring fishnet gown, Tina Turner ripped up the stage together with her signature strikes, whereas Chicago’s producer Jimmy Guercio reportedly parachuted onto the sphere for the band’s efficiency, recalled Grafmyre.
1969 was not solely a watershed second within the countercultural motion, however a turning level for a lot of artists who both continued their upward trajectory, equivalent to Alice Cooper and Santana, or fell to the wayside – like Vanilla Fudge who disbanded 9 months later.
Whereas Seattle Pop Competition stays a footnote in rock historical past, it was an necessary milestone on the street to Woodstock, and one of many best rock festivals of all time to be held within the Pacific Northwest.
In only a few brief months, on the daybreak of the 70s, it will appear as if peace and love had been all however a reminiscence.
The top of the 60s noticed a burst of creativity that cemented the last decade’s significance in music historical past. Discover a number of the best albums of the period, together with classics from The Rolling Stones, The Who, and The Allman Brothers Band, on our Summer season Of ’69 retailer web page.
Searching for extra? Uncover the full story behind Woodstock’s “three days of peace and music.”
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