My Reel Tapes: 4
This is post #4 in a series with playlists from my audio reel tapes that were recorded from FM radio broadcasts during the 60’s and 70’s that I liked. I decided to create Spotify playlists so I could listen to the music again, and share with others. And it’s a lot cheaper than converting all the tapes to DVD and better quality. This brings back lots of memories for me, and I hope you enjoy them too.
Over Thanksgiving weekend in November 1969, I went to the Palm Beach Pop Festival along with about 50,000 other people just 3 months after Woodstock. It was held at the 149-acre International Raceway, permits were initially denied, vendors ran short of food, and they only had about 300 portable toilets (until they were dismantled for firewood because of the cold).
At the time I was stationed at Eglin Air Force Base in Fort Walton Beach, Florida, on the Gulf of Mexico in the panhandle near Pensacola so I had to drive all across the state over 8 hours. We arrived Friday afternoon, but were absolutely not prepared for the conditions. Tickets were $20 for the 3-day festival, but it was very cold (40’s) that weekend, rainy, and muddy.
Iron Butterfly was the opening act, including In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida which probably lasted over 20 minutes, and then we saw King Crimson, Grank Funk Railroad, and some other bands. Eventually as it started getting dark, we left to go stay at a Holiday Inn, and decided not to return on Saturday because the weather was even worse then.
Going through my mind was “What was I thinking?”, “What am I doing here?”, and “What if something happens?”, especially since I needed to be back for duty on Monday morning. But I guess it was definitely a unique experience to witness early rock history.
The festival was closed by Sly & the Family Stone, Jefferson Airplane, and even the Rolling Stones, who had been flown into the site by helicopter, including some of the songs in the playlist. I have also included some other songs recorded from FM radio in Norfolk a little over a year later after I had moved to Virginia.
Playlist
Tape 4 – 24 songs, 1 hr 40 min
Festival Poster
Video & Photos
Palm Beach Pop Festival – Short Documentary by Jack Connell & Ken Davidoff – 8 min 15 sec
Photo Gallery
The Music, Mud and Hippies Photo Gallery (22 photos) by the Palm Beach Post provides some idea of what it was like.
Albums
Here are albums featured in this playlist.
A Salute to King Crimson by various artists (2010) – 16 songs, 1 hr 32 min
Light and Heavy / The Best of Iron Butterfly by Iron Butterfly (1993) – 21 songs, 1 hr 14 min
Wheels of Fire (Remastered) by Cream (1968) – 13 songs, 1 hr 20 min
The Youngbloods by The Youngbloods (1967) – 11 songs, 31 min
Let It Be (Remastered) by The Beatles (1970) – 12 songs, 35 min
The Use of Ashes by Pearls Before Swine (1970) – 10 songs, 32 min
Number 5 by Steve Miller Band (1970) – 10 songs, 35 min
The Best of Johnny Winter by Johnny Winter (2002) – 16 songs, 1 hr 16 min
Down Home by Seals and Crofts (1970) – 11 songs, 35 min
Love It To Death by Alice Cooper (1971) – 9 songs, 37 min
Good and Dusty by The Youngbloods (1971) – 13 songs, 44 min
The Greatest Hits: Grand Funk Railroad by Grand Funk Railroad (2006) – 14 songs, 1 hr 9 min
You Keep Me Hangin’ On by Vanilla Fudge (2007) – 1 song, 3 min 44 sec
Dance to the Music by Sly & The Family Stone (1968) – 15 songs, 57 min
Greatest Hits by Sly & The Family Stone (1970) – 12 songs, 40 min
Hot Rocks (1964-1971) (Remastered) by The Rolling Stones (1971) – 21 songs, 1 hr 25 min
Aftermath (Remastered) by The Rolling Stones (1966) – 11 songs, 42 sec
Photo credit: In the Court of the Crimson King @ Amazon (album cover)