Celebration of Life

Does colleen still enjoy a little wild turkey?

 

I was 19 and rode my red Kawasaki Mach III 500 from Houston, Texas. I have an original poster and brochure about the festival that I got when I purchased my ticket at Evolution Tapes and Records. I met a guy on a BSA from Houston when I got there and we hung together. I also met up with another guy from Houston who had a chevy van that we camped with. The guy on the BSA and I took some THC and we were zonked walking around the midway of people selling stuff. I didn't have any problems with the biker gang. I don't remember any musicians playing music on stage. It was hot and humid, but I was used to it so it didn't bother me. I don't recall seeing any violence, but I do recall seeing people having a good time just camping out and getting away from it all. I had never been to a festival before and I didn't want to miss out on this one. It was raining when I left Houston, but I arrived at the festival ok. I saw the people bathing and swimming in the river, but I didn't go in. I'm glad I went. I had a good time and can say I experienced one of the last real rock festivals.

 

It was HOT, there was no water or shade, hitchhiked to meet my old man who was working the festival, went to pick up my ticket at Will Call. There hadn't been a will call dept in 3 days by the time I got there. Got a very crispy sunburn that turned into mega-freckles on my back after it peeled. I still have those freckles all over my back today and I'm 60 years old. Finally located my boyfriend and ended up having a great time as always. Miss those old multi-day festivals where you entered the grounds and stayed there 24 hrs a day.

 

17, Full of excitement, hitchhiking from Florida, my girl buddy and I arrived only to be stuck on a levee for 2-3 days. We met 2 very cute guys in a VW bus from Georgia who were the only ones allowed to be in a moving vehicle before they let the crowd off the levees. It had a big red cross on the front and they picked up people who needed medical attention and drove them inside the venue-that's how we got in. Very handy guys to know and did I say cute? Muddy, hot, lots of drugs and so much fun, It was a great time to be a teenager, we had the best of everything but most of all THE best music ever. Atlanta I and II/Palm Beach Festival/Miami Pop Festival----Good times!

 

Red, I was there, I was the lead guitarest for a band called, Blood Wedding, my bass player and myself played with a local drummer ( ours had not arrived yet, was still finishing school.) we played the two nights behind the stage almost all night if I remember right. I remember a bad storm the next day when the stage was partly blow over and a worker there got impailed, we never played after that, because of the late start and other issues we never did get to play on the main stage, I was wondering if you were there when I played, I had a sg les paul , my amp was a Vox super beatle, would love to see if someone has any super8 footage, that be cool to show my daughters.Rock on Charlie

 

My wife, another couple and myself drove down from Oklahoma for the Celebration of Life festival. I remember that we parked outside the gates waiting for the injunction to be lifted. We were directly across the road from one of the sharecropper houses. My wife and her friend ask and were given permission to use their bathroom or outhouse, I'm not sure which is was cause I was never over there. I remember cops on horseback trying to keep us under control and ladies asking them if it was OK to take their tops off and they said sure. I remember the little store that we visited for food and drinks and how empty the shelves were on the second day. I remember seeing a semi truck and trailer pulled in one day and unloading groceries and wondering if that was the first for that store owner. My wife and I swam in the swamp that was just over the levee and used the water to hide our sexual activity. We bought some of the hemp that was totally worthless. I had the great time outside the gates and was really looking forward to getting inside for the music.

I left my car outside when they finally let us in cause somebody said we could, by the time I got back get the car it was gone, it had been impounded and cost me $30 to get it back with the first dent. Inside was better than outside cause we finally got our hands on some better pot and we met some friends from Oklahoma that had some opium. Don't remember any fights, loved watching all the naked ladies swim. I didn't swim naked with everyone else but my wife and I went up river some and I took my clothes off and walked around, we could see the people but I don't think they were looking at us. I remember there were bathroom facilities on site cause my friend came back to camp one morning and said he was ready to leave right then. We kept asking why he was in such a hurry cause we had a couple of day left before we had to be back. Finally he told us that he was in the designated men's room for his morning constitutional when a lady came in sat down beside him (he said there were plenty of other empy seats) and proceeded to do her business beside him. He said she never said a word finished got up and left, he on the other hand came back to camp and was ready to leave then. We were able to convince him to stay another day but that was it he'd had it.

Great to find others out there that experienced it!!!

 

I was thier for a few short hours. I was Tour manager for Amboy Dukes we played there.

 

I was one of the other cats from Ft. Wayne that went down to the Celebration Of Life. Dont remember all the guys I went down with but one of them had a car and we ended up stealing gas all the way down since none of us really had any money. We got caught somewhere in Georgia but the guy was actually pretty good about it and just made us pay for the gas. That could have been ugly. Those days and those gatherings were something special. I remember it was definitely hot. I remember the cajuns drifting past in their boats checking out all the naked chicks. Weren't we all. I got bit by a spider while camping out there and my eye was hugely swollen. The music was great, the drugs were great. Overall just a wonderful experience for a wild adventurous 18 year old. Me and a friend hitchhiked back to Ft. Wayne and one of our very last rides before we made it home some dude stops his car we run up and climb in--the man is completely naked except for his glasses. Nobody says a word about it. He drops us off and we go on our way.

 

Just been watching some 16 mm movies I took there.

 

I was there, but don't remember much except "The Mud People," Naked People, and a guy running around with a watermelon rhine tied to cover his pecker, with a carrot drilled into it. In a few days the carrot was wilted.. Funny Shit.. "Ted Nugent and the Amboy Dukes" ruled!! ..Does anyone have a picture of the poster vides, tapes or pics to post or a list of who actually played there??... wanman4 , Tulsa, OK

 

I attended the "Celebration of Life" festival. Like most who attended so long ago, I was thinking about it and googled it.

 

I am looking for the photos in Playboy that were taken at the Celebration Of Life. A friend of mine was in one of them. He is turning 60 this year and I'm making a card for him. I want to put the photo on the card.

I have spent 3 hours now on line looking for the copy of Playboy that featured 'Celebration Of Life' with no luck at all. Does anyone know where I can find either the issue of Playboy or the photos that were in the issue? If you do can you email me at
mjapple@usa.com

Many, many thanks for any help anyone can give me.
M J.

 

Just thought obout Googling COL I hitchiked there from Atlanta with a friend....A right of passage for me!

 

OK it was more than a right of passage....The girl I hitchiked from Atlanta with and I were picke up hitchiking down by a couple of suits who drove us off the interstate into the woods and threatened us both with rape! several grueling minutes later they said they were FBI agents and insisted we take a bus from Birmingham and stop hitch hiking.....They drove us to the bus station in Birmingham and bought us tickets....I was 20 and scared _less.

I met a girl there who had a blonde shag who was an angel to me.....a couple of weeks later we met in Piedmont Park in Atlanta and ran across the lawn to meet in an embrace...just like in the movies
I was living in an apartment complex across from 6 flags.....She stayed the night and I lost my virginity hanging from the diving board in the apartment complex pool....NO S _ _ t

 

I was there - almost gave birth to my first child there.

 

Yes, that summer we emptied out the rooming house we lived in and drove our orange GTO Judge to the festival. Because we had a CB, we were asked to worked with the medic tent, helping with those on bad trips.

I still have the poster and my green medic button. Sweet memories.

 

I was there too. A friend from Oklahoma coma down to Texas with tickets and asked me if I wanted to go with him. Of course I said yes. I remember Sly and the Family Stone were being asked there but they didn't show up. A trapeze crew were there and performed. Steve Stills and his group played along with Chuck Berry. Black Oak Arkansas played. A biker gang was security. Lots of nudity at the Atchafalaya River. An ABC news plane was there filming some events. Girls that had gone to the medic tent were coming out with Noxema on their tits and above their butts due to sunburn. Wish I had worked in the medic tent. haha I met a couple of girls from Sarasota, Florida. Faith G. and Joycie O. They went to Colorado after the concert to go see snow up there. Wish I had gone with them. I rode with them to Norman Oklahoma and stayed with my sister there before they went to Colorado. It was a nice concert. I loved that sort of thing back then. Maybe now too. Not for sure.

 

Hello all. I was there, but memories are cloudy from that time. A website I saw said Rare Earth did not play at his festival. I attended a few, but I think I remember them playing at Celebration of Life. Does anyone have enough uncorrupted brain cells to confirm?

 

I was definitely there!

Three of us, just having graduated from High School, decided that this would be our Senior Trip. And what a long, strange trip it was. To tell the truth, during the past decade or so, I was starting to think that I'd just dreamed that there even was a festival in LA, and couldn't remember the name of it.

What a cool thing to see that it was true, and that there were so many others!

 

I was there... John Sebastian opened and apologized for the seemingly unending bullshit everyone endured to get there. It was sold as taking place on an island complete with a full carnival/circus... So much for that. It was the first time I'd ever seen windowpane. People were selling it on little squares of masking tape, saying "tape this to your neck" to get off. Seems impossible it was 41 years ago...