The Isle of Wight Festival 1970 was a music festival held between 26 and 30 August 1970 at Afton Down, an area on the western side of the Isle of Wight in England. It was the last of three consecutive music festivals to take place on the island between 1968 and 1970. Although estimates vary, news outlets at the time reported an attendance of 250,000. It was organised and promoted by local brothers, Ron and Ray Foulk through their company Fiery Creations Ltd and their brother Bill Foulk. John Homer was site manager and Rikki Farr acted as compere.
The preceding Isle of Wight Festivals, also promoted by the Foulks, had already gained a good reputation in 1968 and 1969 by featuring acts such as Jefferson Airplane, Tyrannosaurus Rex, the Move, the Pretty Things, Joe Cocker, the Moody Blues (performed at the 1969 festival), the Who, and Bob Dylan in his second performance since his 1966 motorcycle accident.
Many excerpts from this festival have appeared on record and video.
Artists lineup The 1970 version, following Woodstock in the previous year, set out to move one step forward and enlisted Jimi Hendrix. With Hendrix confirmed, artists such as the Who, Miles Davis, Joan Baez, Joni Mitchell, Jethro Tull, Sly and the Family Stone, Ten Years After, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Free, Taste featuring Rory Gallagher, Tony Joe White, Cactus, Chicago, the Doors, Lighthouse, and the Moody Blues also took part. The event had a magnificent but impractical site, since the prevailing wind blew the sound sideways across the venue, and the sound system had to be augmented by Pink Floyd's PA. Organizers also faced the logistical problems involved in transporting some 260,000 people onto an island with a population of fewer than 100,000. The Island's transport services were already stretched by the annual influx of summer holiday-makers at the same time.
Political and logistical difficulties resulted in the organisers eventually realising that the festival would not make a profit and declaring it to be "a free festival", although the majority of the audience had paid for tickets in advance, and the event was filmed contemporaneously. The commercial failings of the festival ensured it was the last event of its kind on the Isle of Wight for thirty-two years.
Planning difficulties The opposition to the proposed 1970 festival from the residents of the Isle of Wight was much better coordinated than it had been in previous years. The Isle of Wight was a favoured retirement destination of the British well-heeled, and a haven of the yachting set, and many of the traditional residents deplored the huge influx of "hippies" and "freaks". This led to the introduction of sections to the "Isle of Wight County Council Act 1971" designed to control any further large overnight gatherings. Renting a few acres of suitable farmland to hold a music festival had in earlier years been a simple commercial matter between the promoters and one of the local farmers, but by 1970 this had become subject to approval decisions from several local council committees who were heavily lobbied by residents' associations opposing the festival. As a result of this public scrutiny, the preferred ideal location for the third Festival was blocked, and the promoters in the end had no choice but to accept the only venue on offer by the authorities: East Afton Farm, Afton Down. One unintended result of this choice of location was that, since it was overlooked by a large hill, a significant number of people were able to watch the proceedings for free.
Performances
26 Wednesday Judas Jump: A heavy progressive rock band featuring Andy Bown and Henry Spinetti of the Herd and Allan Jones of Amen Corner. Kathy Smith: A Californian singer-songwriter, signed to Richie Havens' label, "Stormy Forest", was well received. Rosalie Sorrels: Another folk musician, accompanied by David Bromberg on guitar. David Bromberg: Bromberg was not on the bill, but he performed a set. "Mr. Bojangles" was included on the album The First Great Rock Festivals of the Seventies. Kris Kristofferson: Performed a controversial set. Due to poor sound, the audience was unable to hear his set, and it appeared that they were jeering him. He was eventually booed off the stage because the audience could not properly hear his song "Blame It on the Stones" and ignorant members of the audience assumed he was criticising the Rolling Stones and the whole youth movement. "It was a total disaster," Kristofferson recalled. "They just hated us. They hated everything. They booed us, Joni Mitchell, Joan Baez, Sly Stone; they threw shit at Jimi Hendrix. At the end of the night, they were tearing down the outer walls, setting fire to the concessions, burning their tents, shouting obscenities. Peace and love it was not."Bell, Max: "Q&A: Kris Kristofferson"; Classic Rock #148, August 2010, p34 Mighty Baby: psychedelic rock band.
27 Thursday Gary Farr: The brother of festival promoter Rikki Farr, Gary had been the front man of the T-Bones, an R&B combo that featured Keith Emerson on keyboards. By this time, he had become a solo artist, and his second album, Strange Fruit, for CBS Records, had been released in 1970. Supertramp: Their eponymous debut album was released a month prior to the festival. Andy Roberts' Everyone Ray Owen: Ex-Juicy Lucy vocalist with his band Howl: Scottish hard-rock band formerly known as the Stoics, featuring Frankie Miller Black Widow: a British band that wrote songs about Satan worship in their 1970 debut LP, Sacrifice Groundhogs: English blues rockers Terry Reid: The English singer performed with David Lindley. The set was released on CD in 2004. Gilberto Gil and Caetano Veloso: Brazilian Tropicália musicians. Gracious!: A British progressive rock band.
28 Friday Fairfield Parlour: They had recorded a single called "Let The World Wash In", released under the name I Luv Wight, which they hoped would become the festival's theme song. They had also previously recorded as Kaleidoscope. Arrival: Their set included a Leonard Cohen song. Lighthouse: This Canadian act performed two sets at the festival. Taste: Guitarist Rory Gallagher had a blues trio from 1966 to 1970. This was one of their final shows, which was filmed and recorded. An album, Live at the Isle of Wight, was released of their set in 1971. Their set is featured on the Taste: What's Going on – Live at the Isle of Wight 1970 DVD & Blu-ray released in 2016. Tony Joe White: Performed hits including "Polk Salad Annie"; his drummer was Cozy Powell. Tony Joe's entire set was released in 2006 on Swamp Music, a Rhino Handmade collection of his Monument recordings. Chicago: Their set included "25 or 6 to 4," "Beginnings" and "I'm a Man." Their entire set was released as part of the box set Chicago: VI Decades Live (This is What We Do) (2018) and separately on Chicago: Live at the Isle of Wight Festival (2018). Family: Their set included "The Weaver's Answer," which had become their signature song. Procol Harum: Frontman Gary Brooker commented that it was a cold night. "A Salty Dog" was included on The First Great Rock Festivals of the Seventies album. The Voices of East Harlem: An ensemble of singing school children from East Harlem in New York City. Their set received several standing ovations. Cactus: Two songs from their set were featured on the LP The First Great Rock Festivals of the Seventies. A showing of the Murray Lerner film Festival.
29 Saturday John Sebastian: Performed an 80-minute set, during which former Lovin' Spoonful guitarist Zal Yanovsky made a surprise guest appearance. Shawn Phillips: This American folk musician performed an impromptu solo set following John Sebastian. Lighthouse (second set) Joni Mitchell: Played a controversial set; following her performance of "Woodstock", a hippie named Yogi Joe interrupted her set to make a speech about the people at the festival in an encampment built of straw bales known as Desolation Row. When Joe was hauled off by Joni's manager, the audience began to boo until Mitchell interrupted her own set to chastise the audience and make an emotional appeal to "give us [the artists] some respect". Contrary to popular belief, Joe was not the man who was ranting about a "psychedelic concentration camp". That was another incident that took place the previous day. After the crowd quieted down, Mitchell closed her set with "Both Sides Now" and returned to the stage for an encore singing two more songs for an appreciative crowd. Her set is featured on the DVD Joni Mitchell Both Sides Now: Live at the Isle of Wight Festival 1970, released in 2018. Tiny Tim: His rendition of "There'll Always Be an England" can be seen in the film Message to Love. Miles Davis: A DVD of his complete set was released in 2004. "Call It Anythin'" was included on The First Great Rock Festivals of the Seventies album. Ten Years After: British blues rockers performing what was basically a reprise of their famous Woodstock set. Highlights included "I'm Going Home" and "I Can't Keep From Crying Sometimes," which was featured on the album The First Great Rock Festivals of the Seventies and the film Message to Love. Emerson, Lake & Palmer: This was their second gig. Pictures at an Exhibition, which featured the Moog synthesizer, was the centerpiece of their historic set. Commercially released as Live at the Isle of Wight Festival 1970 in 1997. The Doors: Their set was shrouded in darkness due to Jim Morrison's unwillingness to have movie spotlights on the band. Their performances of "The End" and "When the Music's Over" are featured in Message to Love. As described in Morrison's biography, No One Here Gets Out Alive, wind, bad weather, and the cold made their performance even harder. Bootleg recordings of the performances and audio exist, alongside a 2015 remastered release by Doxy Records which has been made available on Spotify. A live version of "Break On Through (To the Other Side)" was featured in the soundtrack for When You're Strange. Their set is featured on the Doors: Live at the Isle of Wight Festival 1970 in a combo DVD/CD – Blu-ray/CD & DVD – Blu-ray released in 2018. The Who: Their entire set, including the rock opera Tommy, was released in 1996 on CD (Live at the Isle of Wight Festival 1970). Two years later their set appeared on DVD with significant cuts from Tommy and a few other songs (such as "Naked Eye") missing. Melanie: This Woodstock veteran played a well-received set as the sun rose. Prior to her set, Keith Moon of the Who offered her some moral support and encouragement. Not until afterwards did Melanie realize who he was. Her performance of her own song, "What Have They Done to My Song Ma", was included in a 2010 French documentary, spanning the 1970 and 2010 I.O.W. festivals, called From Wight to Wight and first shown on TV station ARTE, on 30 July 2010. Sly and the Family Stone: The showstoppers of Woodstock performed to a tired audience on the early morning of Sunday. However, the audience woke up for spirited renditions of "I Want to Take You Higher", "Dance to the Music" and "Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)", which featured Sly on guitar. "Stand" and "You Can Make it if You Really Try" appeared on the album The First Great Rock Festivals of the Seventies. Prior to their encore, another political militant decided it was time to make a speech and the booing audience started to throw beer cans onto the stage. Freddie Stone was hit by a flying can and an angry Sly decided to skip the encore. He did promise a second appearance, but this never occurred.
30 Sunday Good News: American acoustic duo with Larry Gold on cello and Michael Bacon on guitar. Kris Kristofferson (second set). For his second set he was warmly received. He came on with a bigger band and joked when he took the stage: 'Well, I'm back but this time I've brought some bodyguards'. Two of his songs from his sets were included on the album The First Great Rock Festivals of the Seventies.