Celebration of Life

any folks that went to the festival live in the nashville tn area?

 

Gosh, I've been looking for a site like this forever! I was at the Celebration and can remember it being sooooo hot. Was with really good friends, drove down from Illinois in an old ice cream truck. Needing to make money for the return home, we went in to town and bought ice blocks, we wrapped them in tarps and sold ice during the festival.

 

I live near Chatanooga now, but way back then, lived in Orlando, fl. My brother and i rode out to the celebration with a friend in his vw bug. As did others, we were stopped by the law, but found a way in and wound up on the levee camp, and then we were lead on a trail along the river into the main site. Spent the nite in the stage feild partying with poeple from all over. truly was a magic moment. Reality soon set in though as the heat was miserable and trying to find sustenance was a daily ordeal. Heading back to orlando, we stopped all along the way picking up coke bottles for deposit $$ to buy gas. Those were the days! Remember spending one nite in an old church, also remeber the little country store and the hermit guy, or "goat man" as some have called him. Wonder if these poeple had a clue what was going on?lol

 

I was there, a naive 20 yr old - took a bus from Nebraska to Baton Rouge, then hitchhiked to the festival. I do remember the rain, the heat, the delays - sleeping in a soaking wet sleeping bag - little food. Saw John Sebastian, Bloodrock, and, I think, War (with or without Eric Burdon?) - many groups as advertised never appeared. Was the closest I ever got to a Woodstock type event, though this one was poorly organized. And, I found out about it through their ad in Rolling Stone, and sent away for my ticket. Wow, as the joke goes - "the 60's (Seventies), if you remember, you weren't there!" ...

 

I was there and it lasted 9 days not 3. I was 17 years old at the time and it was held up for several days by the police. Several thousand of us got in long before the gates were let open and musci was playing the entire time prior to the offical opening. It was a blast if you could stand the heat and the rain. The music played from sun down to sun up and we spent the rest of the day swimming in the river nude and getting buzzed.

The location was moved from an island in the Mississippi to several other locations before it was finally held in Baton Rouge Louisiana.

Greg P.

 

We got there a couple days before the gates opened and camped along the road. That was a big party. The day they let people in, we floated down the river on a log to get past the bikers, because who had tickets. There was a big group of us from Knoxville, TN. We had two VW buses parked side by side with about 25 feet between them and a big tarp strung up. It provided shade from the hot sun. Tourists would drive through daily and we would jump on the fenders for a ride. I burned my naked ass. It was a good trip for us. No bummers. I've been looking for a copy of the magazine with the picture of us in the mud pit. I stayed in the mud alot.:cheers2:

 

This is too cool. What a great memory! I was just out of high school and made the trip with my gf Debbie and her best friend Kay. We later became a party of five when we linked up with some homies at the ferry landing.

I remember the ticket for the event was supposed to be a multi part ticket. One section was supposed to get you a ferry ride across the Atchafalaya River, another section gained you entry into the campground, another to make entry into the stage area. This is what I was told. The ticket cost $28 bucks, as I remember, more money than I ever had at any one time. So like most, we managed to sneak in. More accurately we gained access by bribing a member of the motorcycle gang, aka concert guards. We thought we were going to get in scott free, based on some insider info from an old local we met at the ferry landing, but not so. His directions were good, we found the "secret" trail through the woods, but were soon confronted by a Manson look alike, I mean guard, who popped out of a trailside pup tent with a bolt action rifle. We retreated back to the road, but after some discussion, we managed to scrape up 20 bucks between us and I was elected to approach Charlie with the bribe money. He didn't argue much, but did warn me that if his supervisor (?) showed up before we cleared the scene, he would open fire. After closing the deal, I motioned to the others, standing off at a safe distance, to get their butts in gear. We had just cleared his checkpoint when a white cruiser with a side mounted searchlight appeared on the levee road. The next thing I know, Charlie hollers RUN, and the race was on. We ran, fully expecting to hear the crack of a rifle shot any second. But fortunately it never came. Doubtful Charlie actually had bullets for that thing. Right?

By now it's getting dark and we have no idea where we are. So we put our ears to the wind and picked up the unmistakable lyrics of the song DOA. How appropriate! We locked on to the signal and slowly picked our way through the swampy woods, only to arrive on the wrong side of a solid plywood wall. The wall was too high to see over, and disappeared into the darkness in both directions. So we take a vote and decide to follow it to our right, fully expecting to be greeted by Charlie's cousin at any second. But our luck continued and we soon reached the edge of the wall, which was nothing more than a huge stage wrap around. The next sight was one I'll never forget. A literal sea of people. You couldn't tell exactly how large the sea was, because you could only see as far as the stage lights could penetrate the contiguous layer of pot smoke that hung over the crowd. Well, we're standing there contemplating our next move, when it dawns on us that this is the peace and love generation we're looking at. So we start tip toeing through the masses, constantly apologizing as we go, until we get dead center with the stage. And, as we suspected, everyone made room for us, welcomed us, shared herb with us....God I miss the hippies!

We stayed for a couple of days, most of which is a blur. Most of the bands were obscure, at best, but the electric wine made it interesting. I also remember a small high wire act that tried to perform on stage through a barrage of fireworks that were launched at them by some of the crowd. And I recall being awakened from my stupor one night by the sounds of Ted Nugent and the Amboy Dukes, a group this southerner had not yet been turned on to. That was a treat. But most of all I remember the people. Good people! ----- Peace everyone.

 

First, the Allman Brothers did not play. They were scheduled, like a couple of dozen other acts, but they never played. A couple of weeks before the festival, they played the Warehouse in New Orleans, along with Quicksilver, ZZ Top, and a horn band called Chase. I bought my ticket on that trip at the festival's office in an apartment complex in Gretna, LA.

$28.00.

Neither did Pink Floyd, nor Clapton, nor a lot of others. Maybe the legal delays prevented touring schedules from accommodating the changes, or maybe it was all bullshit.

I don't remember the Chambers Bros. or Ted Nugent. I do remember War, without Eric Burdon (they weren't that good), Black Oak Arkansas (they were just getting started then. They might have played the gig for free, or even paid the promoters so they could play), It's a Beautiful Day, a pretty good lady whose name was Ruth Copeland (I think), and I remember Stills telling people to go home.

Hot and humid. Imagine that, summertime in a swamp in LA. Fire ants. Skinny dipping in the Atchafalaya. One night there was an absolutely incredible sunset. Another night it rained cats & dogs. An outstanding fireworks display one night just as the acid was coming on. Getting pulled over on the way back home by redneck small town LA cops with shotguns, and NOT going to jail.

I wish I could remember more.....if I do, I'll post it.

 

The state's version of the gestapo and their files on the plans for the festival to be held in Mississippi:

http://mdah.state.ms.us/arlib/conte...ckbox[]=652|6|77||0&searchimages=Submit+Query

If you lived in Mississippi in the 50s,60s, or 70s, and didn't toe the line, you might be in the master files.

 

Four of us drove an old school bus rebuilt as a camper from Iowa to Louisiana by way of California. The Celebration of Life was to be the last stop on a 4-week roadtrip. While in Los Angelas we read that the concert was cancelled. We were going to Ft. Worth anyway. In Texas we found out that it was still on. The delay worked right into our time frame. Somewhere east of St.Charles, LA we stopped at a gas station to ask directions. By chance the station attendent had been to the concert site helping to set up the stage. It took two of us and three repeats to interpret his directions from a Cajun accent and no teeth.

We reached the site in the evening of the first day. Some hitchhikers we had picked up got stopped for no tickets but we had no trouble at the gate; followed a line of cars down an alley of parked vehicles until we found an open space and pulled in. The hitchhikers found us the next day. They had swam the river in the dark. A guy from Miami driving a Porche parked next to us and took the inside of the door panels out. He had several hundred hits of acid in there and sold most of them in three days.

Some bands I remember: It's a Beautiful Day, John Sebastion, War, Country Joe (without the Fish), Chuck Berry. Potliquor, a local band from Baton Rouge, was really good and got the crowd going. They were followed by Bloodrock, who sucked in comparison.

There was a woman who walked a highwire between the speaker towers. During her act there was one trick where the crowd was supposed to be 'very quiet' so she could concentrate. Of course this announcement prompted a loud chant of "jump..jump..jump..". She finished without incident to practically no applause.

It was terribly hot and humid during the day. The only shade was under the bus. Fortunately we had canned food and a place to cook on the bus. I remember standing in line with a gallon water cooler to get fresh water from a tanker truck. There was an unused field close by full of large cockelbur plants that made a convenient bathroom. We went swimming in the river to cool off and try to wash the grime off. The water was dirt brown but still felt refreshing. There were a lot of mud people.

I never saw or heard of any violence. The local cops patrolled around at first but soon kind of gave up. I saw one patrol car go by with 3 naked girls sitting on the trunk. Signs went up at intersections with names like 'Smack Street' and 'Cocaine Lane'.

The music would start in the evening and go until 2 or 3 in the morning. The last night it went until sun up.

It took us a half day to get out of the site. We drove a few miles and crossed the Mississippi on a car ferry. I looked on Google Earth and the ferry is still being used at St. Francisville.

We were pretty torched by the end but I don't regret any of it. A lot of naked chicks, good music, and joints which never stopped floating by.
I couldn't do it now but it sure was fun.

 

Was at Celebration and Atlanta.

Seems that Celebration was so-so heat while Atlanta was stunning during the day.

Both had great places to swim. Jumping off the high rocks at the Rock Quarry at Atlanta. Everybody swimming nude at Celebration.

Seems that all the bands showed up at Atlanta. (And, yes, Chambers Brothers were amazing. Had just stopped raining when they came on and simply tore the place up. (Remember them "shadow" playing in "Time Has Come Today".)

A lot of bands didn't show at Celebration (rumor was they weren't getting paid right so just blew it off.)

Remember laying there on sleeping bags, between groups (and after a swim) just listening to tremendous sound system when a song came on that I had never heard before, but instantly knew it was a great song. Asked people around us, "Who is that?" Guy says, "Rolling Stones "Sticky Fingers". I think it's called "Wild Horses". Boy, did I feel stupid. Couldn't even recognize the Rolling Stones. (Must say, at the time, they weren't one of my favorite groups.) But, then they played "Sister Morphine" and "Moonlight Mile" and I could tell this was a different kind of Stones album.

(For Leopold McDope) Ted Nugent did play at Celebration.

He came on as the sun was coming up on the last morning. He was pissed.

Everyone was asleep so he starts screaming "Get up! Get your asses out of those sleeping bags. We're going to f'n rock and roll." and starts playing at a volume that would make your face stretch if you were looking at the stage.

We got up alright......and left.

It was a blast, though.

Atlanta had the better music and about five (or more) times as many people (and everything else) but, during the day, unless you were in the water or unconscious, it was so flipping hot, you felt you might melt. (I'm pretty sure I saw a couple people who actually did melt. At least I think they did.)

That's why everyone loved it when it rained and when the night came. Oh, the nights.

Celebration was great fun but often had long waits between the bands. (Guess they were back there arguing about their money.) We didn't care though. We were having too much fun.

Both were "Events". Both were great memories.

 

I asked my "new girlfriend" who went to "Celebration" with me, if she remembers it being that hot, since I couldn't remember it really bothering me.

She remembers it being REALLY HOT ...... and said that's why we kept getting in the water. (I thought it was just so we could get naked.)

Since she's been my "new wife" for almost 34 years, I guess I have to believe her. Seems you don't notice some things when you are having fun.

We must have missed the first few days when they were having trouble. We heard about the drownings but didn't see any fights, no police machine guns, no floating cows. Didn't have trouble with any of the locals.

Luckily, having been to Atlanta the year before, we knew to bring plenty of "supplies" (that also includes food and what quickly became, "warm" drinks). I guess, at least they were wet.

All the people around us were just having a good time. Sharing what we had, partying, and hoping another band would come on soon.

I guess your view of things just depends on where you are and when you are there.

 

I remember the delays getting in. First police or a helicopter would come over telling us to leave our cars and walk in. Then after a mile or so walking, they would tell us to go get our car, then come back and say to leave the car and walk, and on and on. Just meant to hassle everyone.... we were not wanted down there! I recall the heat, and drugs everywhere. Food and water were in short supply. Stood in a foodline and remember how great it was to finally get a tuna sandwhich. Had to watch what you drank from whom as everything was "electric." Recall the "mud people?" The locals would cruise the river in their boats and hoot at the naked folks. It was my first (and I think last) public skinny dipping experience.

 

I was five years old when this festival happened but I remember it vividly. The summer of 71 was very, very hot. This was the summer before the great flood of 73. The Atchafalaya River was so low an island came up in the middle of the river not far from the festival. I actually lived in the small town across the river called Simmesport. The hippies invaded our little town and definitely shook it up. MY dad was working for the police department at the time and I don't remember him talking about anything more than speeding, drugs and nudity as problems. In front of my house was a fire hydrant and trucks would come every afternoon and fill with water to bring out to the crowds there.

In our front yard there was/is a large live oak tree. One day we were swinging and a young man and woman walked up dressed in Hippi garb and politely asked if our mom or dad was home. We got my mom and they asked to use our water hose. My mom directed them to the hose in the back yard. We immediately ran inside to a bedroom that looked out on the hose. Lo and behold they undressed and began bathing under the hose LOL. My mom went outside and ushered them into the shower in the house. They bathed and washed their clothes. We had lunch and my mom offered to feed them and made them call their parents HAHA The guy left $5 for the phone calls and they were off to the festival!

A few days later on a Sunday afternoon my dad drove us out there and what sights did we see. Naked people everywhere; I distinctly remember a naked , bearded guy handling a snake. The festival goers had taken the limestone rocks on the banks of the river and made little igloos everywhere. I remember seeing the mudslides into the Atchafalaya where, unfortunately, a few people drowned.

My dad often tells us that word had spread the Rolling Stones were going to show, even though they were not on the list. This was apparently not long after Altmont and the Hell's Angles were on their way. The Banditoes, a local cycle gang out of Lafayette, LA were there along with, I am sure, some others. BUt the State Police stopped the Hell's Angles out Los Angels at the Louisiana line and turned them back. However, they could not guarantee they would not get to the festival. This is the story I was always told for teh cancelation of the festival, but I don't really know.

I do know we went out to the site around 1977 and there were still loads of old trucks, cars and VW's still there. While we were looking around, an old hippi man approached us ans asked if we wanted to buy some Armidillo meat LOL. He said he had come for the festival and never left. As recently as 1983 a friend whose dad farmed the property said there were still igloos out there along with old vehicles. I don't know if any of that stuff is still there but it would be an interesting archealogical dig LOL. I know pot plants grew there at least until the 80's HAHA.

I do know of one woman, who was a neighbor at the time, who has all the posters, newspaper clippings and even her ticket stubs from the concert. If anyone wants to e-mail me (jrwhitmore@yahoo) I'd love to talk to you.

For me it was a time I did not understand, but even in my little town the outside world had come and brought with it the change which was sweeping the country. I don't think that anything like this could happen again without the violence that so often accompanies this TV/hip-hop generation. It was a moment in American history that cannot be returned to. Personally, I am a Regan-child; I went to high school during the 80's and remember the ending of disco and the beginning of rampant consumerism, fashionable greed and the beginning of the computer era. Hippies changes to yuppies. I went from collecting glass Coke bottles for resale to recycling aluminum cans with the tabs still on them LOL.

 

I just joined and this was posted long ago. I do want to say that I attended. In fact, the reason I googled this concert was because I reunited with an old friend who said he last saw me there. I remember days of delays because the highway patrol closed down the original site, and then there was a delay building a new stage. There were no toilets set up, nothing. And I remember everyone swimming naked in a lake that people said was filled with water moccassins, and there were old guys with Budweiser hats and cameras getting WAY too close with their motorboats. Did you guys ever come up with the bands and the soundtrack?

 

Oh yeah... someone mentioned the Mud People. I was one of them. Naked with Louisiana mud from the lake packed all over me to keep cool and from getting burned to a crisp. You couldn't even tell a man from a woman, the mud was so thick. And it would dry this weird shade of blue. So all these blue zombies were walking around! This all jogged my memory. I remember the second day starting with It's A Beautiful Day doing "White Dove" and parachuters drifting down from planes with multi-colored chutes and smoke jets out the back of their heels (I did SEE this, didn't I, and it wasn't too many hits of windowpane?)... It was beautiful to see at dawn. I later met Billy Gregory of IABD in the mid-80's, playing at a bar in New Orleans. That was his first gig with the band, so he's sentimental about it. My other memories are scattered. Because there were no toilets, I remember seeing a group of people standing around watching something. Some guy was taking a shit and everyone was cheering him on! I think it was hot and often boring waiting for the music and people just were desperate for entertainment of any kind...had to be, right? Personally, I remember being hungry and someone had a big chunk of cheddar cheese floating around in a cooler with no wrapping and very water logged. I devoured it. I also remember sitting on the ground at night, watching the most huge beetles I had ever seen trudging past like we weren't even there. The cops might have thought they were in charge, but actually, I think those beetles were.

 

Sorry...memories keep coming back. I remember hitchhiking from Ohio to Louisiana and getting picked up by a VW bus (maybe hip ten poppy?). There was a big hole on the floor of the bus and they had spread a small oriental rug over it. Only thing, the exhaust pipes kept causing it to catch fire. So periodically, we'd have to stop and put out the rug. I, too, remember going from one end of the grounds to the other by jumping on moving cars. No one minded except once the driver forgot he had people on. He got faster and faster and I couldn't hold onto the trunk any longer. I fell, sure that the car following him out would run over me, but he stopped, luckily.

 

About a decade ago, my newspaper, The Riverside Reader, published an in-depth, front-page story on the Celebration of Life Music Festival that was held in McCrea, LA in 1971. I am currently updating that article for inclusion in an annual magazine I publish. I am trying to track down festival attendees who have accurate recollections of the festival, who can remember which musical acts actually performed, and/or who have photos and/or film of the festival.
I can be reached at my office: 225-336-0749 or via email: johnmichael@riversidereader.com. Also, if you would like a copy of our original article, I can email it to you.

John Michael Lockhart
Publisher
Riverside Reader
PO Box 771
Port Allen, LA 70767

 

I could help you with the memories part. I also have (somewhere) the original pamphlet still with the band lineup, although I remember that we didn't see a lot of them. There was a lot of stuff promised on that brochure that never delivered. I personally don't have photos and you might have a hard time finding some. In those days, if you asked anyone their last name or pointed (or even HAD) a camera, you were considered a narc, so people steered clear of them. I'll look for the brochure over the weekend and I would love a copy of the original article. flour.child@yahoo.com

 

A friend and I hitched down from Minnesota. I would stand with my hair fanned out so the drivers thought they were picking up a chick. Some would take off when they saw the beard. In Arkansas we hooked up with a couple of H.S. kids with dad's car and a tent. After days shuffling along the levee the concert was finally a go. We sneaked in across the stream with the bloated cow carcass. It looked like a balloon on top of the water. The latrines consisted of trenches dug with backhoes. You had to stand across them in the dark. People were falling in regularly. Pitiful, but funny. The bikers guarded the food concession trucks, but when enough people ran out they were overrun and the food looted. I remember a guy soliciting hits of acid for his bottle of wine. Said he would chug it when he got I think 50 hits. He was loud and persistent. Last I saw of him he was gulping it down.

Many acts canceled, but the ones there were great. Chuck Berry did about 20 earthy verses of "My Ding-a-Ling". Ted Nugent did a great entrance from atop a 6' tall speaker. Wearing fur loin cloth and boots he leaped down playing in the air. The Chambers Brothers did a long version of "Time." Imagine 50,00 stoners trying to chant at the correct interval - nevah happen. John Sebastian solo may have been my favorite- really put a mellow vibe into the crowd.

Down at the river you felt awkward only if you weren't naked. The locals were eyeballing from boats. Some brave rednecks came to shore and traded beer for reefer. Looked like their first time. The babes were obviously enjoying putting on a show. Aside from strategic sunburn and fire ants (barefoot because of stolen boots) I had a great time. Everyone shared dope and food and the hitch back was another adventure. My feet were leather soled by the time I returned to Mpls.