(Celebration of Life 1971)
Woodstock created a new social platform for music. I was in West Palm Beach playing with Tommy Cashwell that August 1969. It was all over the news media. The Atlanta International Pop Festival followed in July 1970. Preceding those 2 events was the Miami Pop Festival, May 1968. That event is famous for the Jimi Hendrix performance.
Celebration of Life was in McCrea, Louisiana, 24-27 June 1971.
I was living and playing music in Central Florida. I had a great studio cottage in Geneva. As usual my gigs were sporadic. I was playing a topless entertainment lounge on Orange Blossom Trail, known as the OBT, that June 1971. The buzz for hippie events was all hype following Woodstock.
Tickets were sold at a popular Orlando “Head Shop” called Infinite Mushroom at Colonial Plaza. Louie Simmons − my brother Fred Welch and myself − would buy tickets for Celebration of Life. Traveling to Louisiana---through Mississippi was a paranoid consideration pertaining to popular herb supplies. I had experienced that in 1968 with a night in the Hattiesburg jail. That incident could have been 20 years in Parchment Farm Penitentiary.
Fred − my brother was on break from college. I acquired a sub for my gig at The Red Lion on OBT, Orange Blossom Trail. We packed my 1967 Red Volvo 122 and hit the road. Before GPS, finding McCrea was not easy. Internet blogs have various memories from attendees. Some of those blogs say it was over 60,000 crazy hippies. My memory from the whole thing is a blur. The weather was horrible. Some blogs have the event billed as Eight Days In The Country.
The facts are…it was a poorly organized event that shut down after its third day. A documentary film, “McCrea 1971” directed by Nick Brilleaux and Scott Caro features film footage of the ill-fated event. (mccrea1971.com)
Different blogs report these are the acts that appeared: Stephen Stills, John Sebastian, Chuck Berry, Ted Nugent, It’s a Beautiful Day, Ike & Tina Turner, Country Joe McDonald, The Chambers Brothers, Melanie, War, Brownsville Station, Stoneground, Black Oak Arkansas, Bloodrock, Jimmy Witherspoon, Ballin Jack, Boz Scaggs, Delaney and Bonnie, Ruth Copeland, Potliquor.
The only music groups I remember are Black Oak Arkansas and The Chambers Brothers. There were posters with musical acts…The Rolling Stones, Beach Boys, Moody Blues, Pink Floyd, Miles Davis, Sly and The Family Stone.
In the early 90s, I attended one of the Lollapalooza Events at Orlando Fairgrounds. I was 40+, (very old) compared to those in attendance. The event was enjoyable and well organized. Those 60s “Peace and Love” festivals never lived up to the billing. The exception is The Monterey Festival 1967. It became the inspiration for Woodstock. A documentary by D.A. Pennebaker shows a different atmosphere and reflection of the period.
Those unfamiliar with 60s music…this film has many well - executed performances from the artist at Monterey. Otis Redding, Jimi Hendrix, The Who, Ravi Shankar, Hugh Masekela and others. It’s the best.