The Atlanta Pop Festival ~ Photo Memories
On July 4th & 5th in the year of 1969, somewhere around 200,000 to 400,000 young people flocked into the Atlanta Speedway to attend a Fourth of July holiday weekend of live music and festive activities. Attending the Atlanta Pop Festival was both work and play for me as I was a budding young record promoter who was still wet behind the ears. Armed with a coveted stage pass and new Yoshika TL Electro 35mm SLR camera, I set out to document the event for my future archives. In this series, I have chosen only a few selected color shots. Don't claim to be the best photographer, or best record promoter, just claim to be lucky enough to have been there with a camera and live to tell about it. Hope you enjoy my trip. Please leave you thoughts in the comments section.All photographs copyrighted (c) by Phillip Rauls. All rights reserved. Duplication prohibited.
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After walking for miles from our parking space located somewhere in the middle of a cow pasture, we entered from the rear entrance and the stage appeared very small and far away. I must have got whip-lash looking at all the chicks. Wow!
Imagine trying to hook-up with friends who said they'd meet us there. There was a sea of people on blankets with coolers and cameras. Had to be careful where you stepped. Note the individual left-center looking through his camera while taking a photograph of me. I'm sure that he was an IRS agent following me or maybe an undercover narc caught spying here.
We finally worked our way close to the stage. Damn, it was hot that day, about 92 degrees.
Band members from the group Sweetwater didn't know what to think when this guy called "Starman" jumped-up on stage and began waving around this giant star that was mounted on a stick. Very trippy stuff.
I worked my way to the photographers row and got some colorful shots. The entire first day I shot nothing but Kodacolor II 400 speed film. Why I don't know. What do you think of the contrast? +prauls.jpg)
You might recognize this band. And the vocalist also. Sometime in the late afternoon, Led Zeppelin hit the stage. It was about that time that I died and went to Heaven. I had previously worked with the band and they must have recognized me at stage front because on occasions Robert Plant and Jimmy Page starred directly into my camera. Later in the set, I shot several photos of the band from the stage. I'm saving those pictures for a book of my shots and stories.+prauls.jpg)
Led Zeppelin's dynamics of improvised unison set the Rock landscape for years to come.
I could have swore that Page starred directly into my camera lens on several occasions.
John "Bonzo" Bonham pounds his snare and high hat with brute force. Notice his use of a 6.5x14" snare, a 14x26" bass drum and a 14x14" tom. Not your standard kit. 
The horn section from The Paul Butterfield Blues Band blanketed the festival with the sound of brass.prauls.jpg)
Blues Master Paul Butterfield grips the mike and belts out a song with a backdrop of blue sky. RIP
Delaney & Bonnie were a crowd favorite as they performed their Blue-Eyed Soul Music.
In 1969, smoking pot in broad daylight was still taboo. These hippies were smoking undercover while thinking nobody would notice their activity.
Festival attendants "Snuffy" Walden the guitarist from The Silver Spoon rock band and his sidekick and bandmate Dennis Collins from KLOL-FM in Houston were in fine form that day.
(L-R) Dennis Collins-DJ-KLOL-FM Houston, Phillip Rauls-Atlantic Records Promo, Terry Fletcher-Electra Records Promo, Scott Shannon-DJ-WMPS and kneeling Freddie Young.+prauls.jpg)
(L-R Clockwise) Phyllis Young, Scott Shannon-DJ-WMPS Memphis, Terry Fletcher-Electra Records, Freddie Young, Ken Woodley-musician/songwriter, Larry Raspberry-recording artist and Phillip Rauls-Atlantic Records.All photographs copyrighted (c) Phillip Rauls. All Rights Reserved. Duplication prohibited.
Atlanta Pop poster from: Atlanta Pop Festival Posters LLC
posted by phillip rauls at 7:09 PM
54 Comments:
A buddy of mine just sold a program from the Atlanta Pop Festival: http://cgi.ebay.com/Led-Zeppelin-Atlanta-Pop-Festival-1969-program-rare_W0QQitemZ290160026391QQcmdZViewItemQQssPageNameZRSS:B:SRCH:US:101
It's interesting that pot smoking in broad daylight was not acceptable. The program actually included this info about drug use: "Atlanta is a generally cool town, with relatively few dope busts. Almost all psychedelics are available with the exception of grass. Prices on lids range from $15 to $20, tabs of acid from $4 to $6, hash at $10 a gram. We have music and be-in's in the park every weekend."
Phillip - Excellent piece on The Atlanta Pop Festival ~ Memories ~ Photos ~ DW
Phillip, you really caught the gist of the event. Thanks for sharing these photos. m-em-o-r-i-e-s...
ICan I link these from the Pop Festival part of The Strip Project?
Great COLOR!!! photos from the festival. I look forward to that book.
Carter
I enjoy your postings. The most recent one brought back lots of memories. Atlanta Pop Festival, wow, that was a great one! The next year was more about drugs than music, and a great disappointment..
Keep up the good work
Sheila & Ray
Hello, Phillip,
I have just discovered your photo blog/site and really enjoyed your photos of the first Atlanta Pop Festival. I worked for the promoters for both of the Atlanta festivals, including as a member of the stage crew at the '70 festival. At the '69 festival I managed to be onstage during the sets of Spirit and Led Zeppelin, though I did not have stage crew duties. To this day I've never seen any decent photos of either of those two acts at the festival - until your Zeppelin shots.
Bill M. Atlanta, GA.
Thanks for sharing your photos and comments. I assume that you did not see Joplin standing on the side of the stage while Zeppelin was performing. I always thought that would have been a picture for the ages. The '70 festival was entirely different. We all aged a lot in the one year. Carlton
Great Photos..the only ones i've seen of the '69 festival. What a show ! Charlie Williams,Gulfport,Fla.
Thanks for lending images to my fuzzy memories of the Pop Festival. Just a clarification, the band you identify as PG&E is actually Stillwater - you can tell by them having a flute player and a "chick singer" Also the guy is wearing the same hat he wore on the cover of their album. And an interesting note, the horn player in the orange shirt in Butterfield's band is David Sanborn.
Rex Patton
I meant Sweetwater.
Rex Patton
Thanks for posting. Great colors shots and crowd vibes. Can't wait to read and see more of your work.
~Susan Street Cook from Tennessee
If any one has any information on the movie that was being filmed during the concert please leave a message. Hendrix was great at midnight (Star Spangled Banner) on pharmy THC We were in the Navy then also.
the first festival was much better than the 2nd, although the music was incredible, going late into the night. i can still remember listening to johnnie rivers laying in my sleeping bag around 2 am. skinnydipping in the pond with hundreds of people. i remember the night after the festival was over, joe cocker, janis joplin, and sweetwater (which i believe was a local atlanta band)gave a free concert at piedmont park. at the end they jammed together. i was 17 and drove up to atl with a friend. i now reside in atlanta. it was and remains an incredible event of my life. thanks for the memories.
Finally...1969. I was a lucky 16 year old who begged his mom until she gave in. The Zepp pic's are outstanding. Remember the poor guy who climbed on stage, fell in J.B.'s drums and the roadies threw him off like a sack of potatoes. I remember Johnny Winter, CTA, Spirit, Grand Funk and Janis all blowing the crowd away. Have you all grown tired explaining to everyone that Woodstock was not a singular event that summer? Great site...I would love to see more photo's
I just wanted to thank you for posting this. I had a hard time finding anything about this festival. My brother worked the stage and three of my friends and I were fortunate enough to have backstage passes.
I was a teen, and the event "blew my mind" and changed me forever.
Once again, thanks, and much peace and love to you.
I was there for the whole Atlanta Pop Festival.
Sneaked backstage through a hole in chain link fence and met Janis Joplin in her small trailer. Her "Full Tilt" set that night was outstanding. She should have been the last act instead of Blood, Sweat & Tears.
Anyway, I was wondering if you got any photos when that dude frying on acid walked onstage naked during the Zeppelin set--twice? Got tossed the second time.
What a stoned out Independence holiday blast!
A group of us were stationed at Ft. Jackson, and made it around 2 am the 4th. One of our buddies had been a bar tender in Statesville, GA and was friends with dickey Betts, before he drafted. We found a a great deal $15.00 a lid plus they through in a tie-dye T-shirt. The sad highlight was knowing Hindrix performed the Star Spangle Banner for the last time.
Jim W
It's so weird to me that I haven't changed one bit since my Atlanta strip & festival days.I can't understand why I feel exactly the same way.I feel like I'm the same age when I hear the music or talk to people from those times going all the way back to the Allman Joys playing Gaslight Square Stl.The only thing different is I fall down more now but if nobody saw it it didn't happen.Great job! I'll be sending links around
40 Years and the memories are still great!
Phillip, did you see the news item about Kodak stopping production of Kodachrome film after 74 years? Only one lab (in Kansas) still processes it.
http://www.kodak.com/eknec/PageQuerier.jhtml?pq-path=2/6868&pq-locale=en_US&_requestid=1044
Thanks for the wonderful write up about the Atlanta Pop Festival, 1969. My mom and dad attended it on their honeymoon.
Have any pictures of Grand Funk Railroad? The 1969 Pop Festival was their debut....now, 40 years later, Mark Farner music is still alive (even if the band is gone in the way we are accustomed)
Happy 4th of July and"Forty Year's Funkin'"
A life changing event. First time I tried grass. Set my life on to a new path. Janis with a bottle of Southern Comfort in one hand and the mike in the other and Jimi doing the Star Spangled Banner were the highlights after dark. RIP. Great music all day long. And then many groups played for free on Sun. in Piedmont Park. That was awesome. Country Joe, Canned Heat, etc Don't remember them all but it was terrific.
Were both festivals held in Byron, ~90 miles south of Atlanta, at the small racetrack? I've talked to a few people who went to the one in Byron and I have a replica poster. One concert goer said there were "naked people everywhere" in the river nearby cleaning themselves. hah! I've been told it was better than Woodstock. I know that a few hippies opened a VW repair shop in Byron and they spelled VOLKSAWAGON (incorrectly). You could still read it in the late 80's but it's since faded. Rumor was that the hippies had broken down.
What a great read! Two friends and I drove up from Fort Benning to attend the festival. We were all "short" and I was starting college in September after three (3) years in the Army.
We were the guests of a wonderful Atlanta family so we didn't have to camp out anywhere.
I do remember how kind everyone was. The three of us were obviously "GIs" (all Vietnam veterans) and had expected some unpleasantness but everyone was great! Of course, the fact that we had some preemo weed with us helped to break the ice! LOL!!!
It was a great couple of days with some great friends and some great music!
I was there too, and so appreciate these photos. Woodstock has gotten all the publicity, but now I understand thatit was the last and most famous venue of some kind of cosmic, mind-altering tour and clarion call for our generation. I remember farmers trucking in watermelon for us, the fire department hosing us down, removing my bra for the first time and cutting my shorts off at the crotch because of the heat. Everyone shared all the food and libations they'd brought, and it bonded us all in a way we could not have anticipated. I fought my way through the throngs to the front so I could see Janis Joplin at 5 a.m. Her raw energy was so powerful, I thought then she'd not live long. I became a musician and activist afterwards and consider this weekend my awakening. Thanks.
Wow. Great shots. I commented on the black and white photos about Led Zeppelin and then here they were. I'd love to see more if anyone has them. Thanks for sharing.
Harvey
I was there also, not quite knowing what was up. I drove in from Kansas City with some hippies after living on the street in Kansas City. Our purpose was to set up a head shop in a tent, and almost fainted from the heat trying to set up the tent. Eventually in the heat at the far end of the race track far from anyone, I found a water faucet in the middle of the heat. People were fainting from the heat and heatstroke by the dozen--sun and no shelter endless hours on end. No water. The sun showed no mercy. Not knowing what was coming in Woodstock just a few weeks later, I remember looking out on the crowd and not being able to see the end of it at its peak. Someone said the estimate was 125,000 people. Everyone remembers being mesmerized by Janis Joplin, and bands that had hardly made their mark like Zeppelin,and total unknowns like Chicago, then Chicago Transit Authority, and Grand Funk Railroad in their first appearance (unfortunately they never got better). It was an exceptional moment in time, maybe magic, never to come again.
All the hoopla about "Taking Woodstock" has brought back memories of the first Atlanta Pop Festival and what a great gem I found with your photos. It's exactly how I remembered. It's fuzzy memories but I do remember CTA opened (I believe) with "Only the Beginning" and I was plugged in from then on. Only regret is that my stupid sister met someone who got her backstage and she had a conversation with Jimmy Page and had no idea who he was. She thought his accent was put on...oh, what a waste....if only it'd been me. They kept making announcements about a festival in Woodstock coming up and I was wishing I could go....who knew it would have such an impact. Boy, I miss those days. Peace, love and rock 'n roll
Anyone remember when Johnny Rivers hit the stage at night and the power went out? His drummer never missed a beat.
thank you for the live flashbacks I told many folks about them. Flash and Herbie O'M (TJ's etc )The best was seeing you and Larry and Scott(I'm a star Shannon.But the #1
was seeing my old boyfriend and love of my life now "Mr. TV" Snuffy Walden
who never admits to being in Memphis in any of his bio"s Ha I'm writing the book not a who slept with whom book. But more of a historical slant of the times. Everybody have told me I have to do it and so I also feel some things have be be straighten out. It would also as Dickinson(god bless hid soul)would say to me it would be a miracle for someone from Memphis to actually tell the true life stories about us and you were on the scene just write the f'ing story. SO WHEN I BY CHANCE came upon your website it was THE big bright sign! Thank you,
Cindy Underwood
Great pics, the first APF is oft overshadowed by II. I attended both.
Hendrix was at II.
Standouts for me were Led Zeppelin (billed as Jimmy Page and the New Yardbirds on the first print ads), Canned Heat, Credence, a smoking Johnny Winter, Brubeck/Mulligan, and Booker T.
Good times!!! Thanks for the memories.
Thanks for the memories. Brother and his fiancee my girlfriend and I drove in from Memphis. Separated from brother for 3 days and had a blast. Summer after high school graduation and folks thought we were visiting older brother in Atlanta. I just remember buying a orange for $5 which was absurd. Water and food scarce. Loved riding on the cars to the exit to buy cigs and water and pretzels
Hey, I was there!
I had just gotten back from 'Nam and my hair was so, so short. I saw some of the dirtiest naked bodies I've ever seen ... but it was awesome. This is what we were fighting for ... I guess. I felt so absolutely free ... and peaceful.
When folks started passing out from the heat and water tanks were brought in, we stood in line for a while and when we got to the tanker truck I could hear hippies swimming around inside the water tank ... yuk. But I drank the water anyway.
Great pics, thanks. I was stationed in Biloxi and made both '69 and '70 fests. One eve during the '69 event a couple of people started beating out a rhythm on some sort of metal silo. Folks gathered 'round and someone started singing Hey Jude. All joined in...what a time. Years later when I was working in North Carolina I was describing this scene and a guy said, "Hey, I was there!" Those were the days, those were the days....
wow! I was watching the recordings of woodstock. and wondered *if* there was anything on the first Atlanta Pop Festival. I was 16. went w/my bro. fresh back fr. Nam. we were the very last peops to leave. still a little high on lsd. place looked like giant checkerboard where people took up their blankets, left their trash. never forget jimi hendrix, janis joplin and the dope dealer at the entrance w/ his briefcase, saying LSD, marijuana,cocaine and the firetrucks coming in to blast the hot crowd w/h20.oh yes, sneaking into somebody's pasture to swim in what we thought was a lake. turned out to be more mud than anything.
I will never forget that weekend. Too many memories to tell. Changed my life forever.
Wow what memories thanks for the photos- I hitch-hiked up from Miami,FLA with 4 other people. We were broke and just looking to check out the festival. Spent the first night camping with people out near the parking lot, went skinny dipping in the pond the next morning. We had no cash to get in so walked around the perimeter looking for a hole in the fence or something. A guy in a U-haul truck stopped us and asked if we knew how to get in, he had the equipment for Creedence Clearwater Revival. We said sure if he would give us a ride. We drove up to the front gates and he kept saying we could'nt go in with him but he did'nt kick us out either. We slowly made our way through the crowd of people waiting to get in. When we got to the gates a couple people climbed on top of the truck and rode in that way. When we got inside he stopped because there were police yelling at him for the people on the roof. They jumped off and took off running with the cops chasing. We got out scooped up a six pack of beer that one of the people on the roof dropped, thanked the driver and went on to enjoy the festival. I had never heard of Led Zepplin before they performed, it's still one of my best memories of a concert.
Great memories, that was a tremendous event. Only briefly heard Cocker as we were going to the parking lot. No one I was with had ever heard of him either.
Yes I remember the power going on on Johnny Rivers. In fact it went out several times but as you say the rhythm never stopped both in the band and the crowd.
I also remember the speed freaks who surrounded the stage and beat sticks together. Seemed like they never stopped. They moved like Aztecs caught up in a tribal dance.
The weather was hot and we all were thrilled when the watermelon truck came by and threw them to the crowd, or at least until they started stinking the next day.
The small town was sold out so it was impossible to buy beer. Then like a miracle from God someone came around with a garbage can full of 16 oz. ice cold Berger Beers. I hesitated for a second because the moron wanted a $1.00 each. That was ridiculous! However a few seconds later I bought two of them. A few hours later someone came around selling LSD hits for $4 each. Of course I was forced into some sort of price comparison justification thing, thinking if I just paid $2 for 2 beers, I have to go for the $4 hit. It's the economy stupid...
Later Paul Butterfield was playing. They used a drive-in type screen behind the band and splashed colors with an opaque projector that projected these images. Wasn't long before giant blue butterflies floated above the stage. Did anyone see those?
That night after Rivers power blew up Blood Sweat and Tears came on, followed later by what I consider one of the highest peaks in my life and I say that referring to many perspectives, Janis. Oh my God Janis performing after the others who received various levels of attention from the crowd. When Janis was on her knees, crying like a ball and chain lighters came out like fireflies and you could hear a pin drop as everyones mouths were wide open and gazing as frogs in a pond when the flashlight hits their eyes.
Following her, Joe Cocker who before starting his performance said, "How do you follow an act like that." As good as he was, he couldn't and everyone knew it.
Paul Schuster, Louisville, KY.
I attended both the '69 and '70 ATL Fests. The music was beyond great at both. This the first time I have seen any photos. Thanks so much for sharing.
I was there too. Thanks so much for the photographs. Brings back memories. MJ
And yes my name is really Mary Jane
I was just finishing up digitaly converting negatives I've had for 42 and 41 years that I took at 1968 Miami (both) and 1969 Atlanta pop festivals. My dad had me do negatives only as it was cheaper to develop then and pick out the ones You wanted. never got them printed later.some came out good others blurry.
I was 15 at Miami in April and turned 16 before the Miami December festival. I moved to Louisville, Ky right after that and took a Greyhound Bus to Atlanta staying with My cousins in Hapeville,Ga, a burb of Atlanta. My Cousins dropped me off at the Speedway and I arrived while Canned Heat was performing. It took about 20 minutes to reach the stage in time for Ten Wheel Drive.
I was glued to that area and took Shots of Sweetwater, Spirit, Zeppelin, Delaney and Bonnie, PG&E, CTA, Johnny Winter, Staple singers, Paul Butterfield, Brubeck & Mulligan, Grand Funk Railroad Johnny Rivers. I remember the 2naked tripped out dudes shaking and floppin around the stage and being tossed into the crowd. also the Drunk cutting his hand on stage during PG&E and being helped by a rodie. Topless women roaming the crowd. Extreme Heat both days.
I Missed Joe Cocker and began Hitch hiking back to Atlanta , getting out of a VW with a Drunk driver from the festival while stopped in traffic and getting in a station wagon full of Chicks also stopped in traffic only to see the Drunk Guy in the VW crash into the rear of a Stopped '69 SS 396 Chevelle. Minor injuries, lots of Damage. I arrived at cousins around dawn only to head back for more 2 Hours later great time.
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Me and two frat buddies drove up to the festival from Ft. Lauderdale, in my 1966 VW minibus (with a glorious dayglow sun painted on the Wheel well. I had just turned 19 (& would be in the Army by November.)
It was incredibly hot and by the 3rd day the ground was littered with watermelon rinds & garbage. Met some wonderful people there. I remember it was difficult to get in and out. We met a couple of brothers while we were there and were sitting on the bumper of my van when one of them had an epileptic seizure because he had run out of medication and couldn't get any. We held on to him, so he wouldn't hurt himself, until it passed. (Ironic that illegal medication was so much easier to come by.)
Other comments are correct that pot smoking was done fairly discretely although there was a lot of it in shade of trees, vans, etc.
Great times - my last concert and last fling before times got serious :)
I was there. I was 15, and Scott Shannon used to be a DJ in Nashville, that's where I'm from. I remember hitching rides on cars to go to the river to skinny dip and beat the heat. Helium balloons in the air "acid $1.00, Ripple wine trucks. I got laid my first time there. I remember making my way to in front of the stage when Leslie West and Mountain did Mississippi Queen, Canned Heat and the Alman Brothers, Grand Funk did there live album there. The 60s- it was a magical time. God bless all
drove up with buddies from fort gordan in augusta...just finishing AIT and leaving for viet nam.
I remember johnny rivers came in by helicopter...
I think it was the butterfield band that rode in on cycles.
I remember the heat...I remember my friend mailed me some hash in a letter flat between wax paper
smoked it at the festival.
Led zeplin was great Had seen joplin in philly the prior winter before getting drafted
We thru a rod in the engine on our way back to the fort.
I remember the watermelons
and the water trucks
I am a St, Pete girl who missed Woodstock. I wanted to have that experience. Made the treck with friends and camped in the pecan grove. I was 17 and the first big moment was when a tall good looking guy wandered by in just boots and a cowboy hat. I was so psyched by this experience that I attended another pop frstival in Toronto the next summer.
Thanks so much for the memories. Post, or sell more pictures somewhere! I have always been surprised that Atlanta's pop festivals haven't ever gotten more mention/credit. I guess partly because Woodstock became the iconic event, and also apparently the main promoter, Alex Cooley, is so modest, or doesn't like hoopla, etc.
I think Atlanta should get credit for the fact it had two festivals in two consecutuve years. As far as I know, no other city did that. They were both wild. I think the whole South hit another level of awareness during those two events and the related time period.
We partied mightily at that festival and I lost my virginity to a man named Danny Beila who worked back stage or at least hung out a lot backstage at the Atlanta festival. I would love to get in touch with him for fun. Does anyone know his whereabouts or even if he is still alive. He had a long red mustache and red ponytail and we made wonderful music together up on a hill under the stars. It was a trip to say the least.
Wow, thanks for sharing. I posted a lengthy comment on the 1970 APF page, so will keep this short. I, too, was/am a photographer and had much better luck at concerts in Houston. We sat miles from the stage at ATL in 69-70. All my negs were lost in 1980, but I still have a few classic prints that are too big to scan (20x30s?) that I printed. I forgot to mention earlier that I also remember the plugs for a festival in NY called Woodstock. I still shoot some shows, but there is no $ to be made. Here on Hawaii Island, we only get the tired old rockers like Johnny Winter and septagenarian John Mayall. They may not look like much (neither do I) but they still Rocked the house. BTW I am NOT a Robot. Jock G
A more accurate estimate was between 3500-450k folks for ATL-II and about 150-175k for ATL-I.
I remember helicopters dropping tubes of sunscreen at APF2. Also pot smoking was pretty much everywhere and not being "hidden". I was introduced to Poco and Lee Michaels at this festival. Good times.
Bill Adams
The pictures bring back the memories. I was the guy doing the light show on the screen above the stage. Worked all night, slept most of the day.
I will never forget working with Hendrix at the second festival. Doing the show during the Star Spangeled Banner is still in my head.
As a photographer I kick myself everytime I remember not bring cameras to the festival because they would be a distraction from my work.
I look forward to your book.
Steve C - ElectricCollage.com
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