June 28th 1969.
Memories,. sweet memories ......

 stuart.godfrey

   Felt embarrased by my regulation school haircut, vowed I would NEVER cut my hair again, and didn't for about three years. VERY pleasant vibes all the way to the recreation ground, even better when we got there. The gentlest crowd I've ever been in, everybody was very mellow.
It was only a one-day event, toilet facilities and food outlets were OK although there was not much choice of food, just burgers and hot dogs, nothing much in the veggie line.

   We were there early and watched the place fill up with seemingly fascinating hairy people; can't remember much about the early bands except that the sound quality was really good for all the acts.

   Biggest early crowd reaction was for Led Zeppelin who came on ridiculously early: I remember looking around at the gaping jaws and popping eyes as Jimmy Page did his violin bow routine ...Plant was in terrific voice and he looked great - a real peacock figure amongst all the denim and leather. A flamboyant, extravagant performance - it was clear they were destined for much bigger things.

    John Mayall seemed kind of flat after the Zep experience. His music was nice, acoustic (Turning-Point) stuff mostly. I recall the dominant bass sound, and the crowd reaction when Mayall sang "don't throw rocks at policemen" in "The Laws Must Change" - quite a few things got thrown, cans mostly, but I don't think anybody got hit.
Roy Harper was brilliant, singing "I Hate the White Man" and "Hell's Angels" where he was joined by a guitarist (Andy Roberts?) whoever it was, he was great.

    The Nice were very flashy (knife-throwing), Scots Guards playing bagpipes , but I enjoyed the Karelia Suite stuff. Chicken Shack went down a storm too, Stan Webb giving a typically extrovert performance with a lot of leaping about......the rest of the band just palyed
and watched him most of the time.
Fleetwood Mac seemed very mellow and relaxed, can't remember much about what they played as I was pretty out of it by the time they came on, but I felt very glad to be there.

    Somewhere during the day I had lost track of my girlfriend and other friends, but hitching home I was picked up by the same VW guy and my by now ex-girlfiend, which was cool. I wished them both well and for all I know they are still together.

     For me it was a great experience, life-changing in its way as I learned to relax, enjoy life and music a lot more, all that kind of stuff.
Only one regret - Jethro Tull didn't play.

   Oh, and no-one offered me any drugs. Must have been the short hair.
Stuart

Alan Lamb (nearly 15 at the time)

     Bath 69 was my first Festival. Then 16 I'd grown up just 3 miles from Worthy Farm so as well as the 2 'Bath' Fests I also attended the first 2 Glastonbury's and the 2nd IOW. You asked for any memories; From 1969 -Colosseum's Dick Heckstall-Smith's telling the audience that he was playing with Jack Lancaster's saxes because his had been left in Exeter the previous night. -John Peel asking a group of us to make way for his Dormer?/Transit? 'Peelmobile'. -Wonderful 20 minute set from Champion Jack Dupree,including the blues,'Chicken Shack'. -The sheer volume of Led Zeppelin -Despite the relatively small crowd,the tight exits causing many people to walk over the tops of parked cars at the end of the festival. -A great sunny day.

mike hodges

Mark Helme remembers things differently
    I was thinking the Bath festival of 69 recently for no good reason (I wasn't sure until I looked it up in Google whether it was 68 or 69). Anyway, I have a few memories which appear different from some of those mentioned. I remember the Mayall set, which had Marc Almond on guitar, and I certainly do not remember Mick Taylor being there. Honky Tonk Women was released a few days later, and I remember hearing it for the first time on the radio in a car going down to Bath, so it was already a done deal with the Stones. My memory is that quite a few things were thrown, but I do not believe it was connected with the words of any song (you couldn't hear them that well anyway) but a guy had been pulled over the front fence by some security people. Quite a few things were thrown, and the band stopped playing, and I think it was Almond who said they weren't going to play this fucking joint (or words to the effect). Anyway things quietened down, and the set continued. I think Fleetwood Mac were on pretty late, and my memory was that Led Zep were on late too - certainly not before Mayall. I think it was pretty dark by the time they came on (and the pictures seem to show that, but who knows). In the middle of the Chicken Shack Stan walk-about lots of people stood up, and so some things were thrown. In fact an apple hit me on my shoulder (which could have been worse) but I ate it, and was quite happy about that.

    I remember Christine Perfect being there too. Peel offered the crowd a lift back to London in his camper van, and a few hundred of us all slept in a tent policed by nasty looking guys with dogs - I don't remember getting much sleep, and getting a lift out of Bath was really hard. It took until about 5 until I got a lift, and then all the way home. I didn't get to go to the 70 festival, but have good memories of the 69 one. The cricket ground where it was held was nice a small, and most people got decent views I think. The weather was great, sunny, not too hot, no mud.
All the best
Mark

Mark Pettigrew remembers it thus .....
    In 1969, I was a 17 year old schoolboy, growing my hair, crazy about music – and in the middle of ‘O’ levels!
I drove down to Bath, in my Morris Minor Traveller, on the morning of the Festival, from my home in Maidenhead, Bershire. With me were two friends, Tony House and Stan Wilson. I had only just passed my driving test, and this was going to be a challenge for both the car and me!
We drove along the old A4 out of the Thames Valley, through the rolling Wiltshire countryside, to Bath, stopping only at Marlborough for ‘minor’ repairs!
    The festival was held just on the edge of the city - on the Recreation Ground, – a unique location - surrounded by wonderful Georgian buildings. I remember there being two stages for the performers, both at the front of the crowd.
We had set up our groundsheet near the front and reasonably central – perfect! Within no time, Stan and Tony were rolling unusual cigarettes, which they insisted in sharing with everyone. People nearby were doing the same; soon the Rec. was covered in an exotic herbal cloud.
I wandered into the town before the start to buy food and drink – the on-site catering being rather limited. It was here that I bought my first copy of Rolling Stone magazine – I still have it.
    The music was amazing. In particular, Roy Harper, Led Zeppelin and best of all, Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac.
I seemed to see Roy Harper at every festival between ‘68 and the early 70’s – and I was all the better for it! A great performance.
Led Zeppelin blew me away. I had wanted to see them for some time – the Melody Maker was reporting on amazing gigs in America - but I was not prepared for this! They hit the stage running, and played long, loud, and with a confidence that bordered on arrogance. The last time a band had made such an impact on me, was when I first saw Hendrix.
The amazing thing was that Led Zeppelin came on so early – I had only just finished my lunch! It was like an air-raid!
The rest of the day is a bit of a haze now – the bands were good, and just being there was enough. I was looking forward to the act that would end the day – Fleetwood Mac.
    Seeing Peter Green at that particular time was unforgettable. They played a wonderful laid-back set, long blues jams, with Peter Green’s guitar floating into the sky. The sun began to set behind the stage, and combined with the lighting, the band was bathed in an orange glow. Disaster struck when the power was turned off before the end of the set! The music had over-run the deadline, and the Blue Meanies had thrown the switch.
    It took a while to empty the site through the narrow exits and stairs, but we were happy enough. The atmosphere had been great all day, we were a small crowd, all music lovers, and relatively new to this festival thing. I remember the friendly nature of people around me, and a great feeling of belonging, of recognition of like-minded souls. This was evident at the Isle of Wight later in the same year, but seemed to vanish soon after.
It was a long but happy drive home. My car and I lasted the course! Home at 3am.
The next day I drove with Annie, my girlfriend, to the Albert Hall to see Led Zeppelin head up the Pop Proms!
Oh happy days!
Mark Pettigrew

Surfing the net and came across your site. I can't believe how small the stage was!!! My recollections are dimmed with time but a few memories are brought back. John Peel (the MC) asking the crowd to be sympathetic towards the police and ' if you see one....buy him an ice-cream'. Were there really
only three pipers on stage with Nice? It was a surprise to see the date of the show, 28/6/69....my brother's birthday. The only concert date that sticks in my mind is when I saw Jackson Browne at the Rosemont Horizon
Chicago 28/6/80 because of it being my brother's birthday. It's more poignant because I lost him in 2001. Back to Bath, Fleetwood Mac closed the show with a mixed bunch of 50's rock songs. I remember it well...I was
breaking my neck for a pee and my convulsions blended in well with the dancing. I dread to think how I would have managed wiith 'Man of the World'
Regards
Brian Rowe

Just stumbled across your site and after reviewing the recollections of the Festival I found my program on which I chronicled the appearance list:
1....Just Before Dawn, should have been 1st. (as a 14 year old categorised as - below average)
2....Deep Blues Band, should have been 2nd. (Good).
3....Colosseum (v. good).
4....Taste (v. good).
5....Roy Harper (v.g.).
6....Keef Hartley ( v.g.).
7....Edgar Broughton (rated as v.g. - hated them soon after!)
8....Liverpool Scene (excellent - always a favourite).
9....Champion Jack Dupree (good).
10..Chicken Shack v.g.).
11..Blodwyn Pig..(v.g).
12..The Nice (brilliant).
13..Led Zepplin (apparently their 1st festival (tres brilliant)
14..John Mayall (great).
15..Fleetwood Mac (again brilliant).
16..Ten Years After (best).
Roy Harper's appearance was not scheduled in the program.
All comments in parenthesis are embarrassingly contemporary.
Non appearances;
Babylon (due on 3rd - 12.35).
Clouds (due on 11th -18.00).

Regards
Andy Mogg.

Hi,
Regarding Colosseum at the Bath Blues Festival of 1969 - the site says unknown for bass and guitar.
The picture clearly illustrates Tony Reeves on bass and almost certainly their first guitarist, James Litherland, both on the first album. I was there, and can remember a phenomenal set with a terrific solo from Jon Hiseman, yeah boring (not)! Believe they opened with 'Walking in the Park',
their first single and a track from the first album.
Ref: 'Taste' at the same gig - pretty sure its Richie McCracken on bass, not Charlie.
Michael J. Amphlett

I've just been meandering through your site for that great event. 17 at the time my memories are clouded nowadays but i do have one particular recollection of a band called Liverpool Scene which featured the late Liverpool poet Adrian Henry and until i looked through your site i've been convinced that they were there. Am I mixed up, were they there, or did i see them somewhere else? I've got this vivid memory of Adrian Henry doing a Bob Hite and bouncing on the stage. We were to the left of stage and i remember the noise he made as he came down on the boards, you'd think he was about to go right through! Sadly i don't have any relics from the event but do have some long distance pictures of other events of that era such as free concerts in Hyde Park. Memories!

Thanks for a great site. I'll look forward to seeng any film clips that ever become avaiable.

Back to the site.

Cheers,

Tony

A memory of Bath Blues Festival 1969.

Your page states: Led Zeppelin played mid afternoon - spectacular. The Recreation Ground is a natural amphitheatre with echoes coming back from the Georgian buildings in the background. My memory is of real ( not manufactured) echoes of Jimmy Pages guitar played with a violin bow. Absolutely. About 2 km across the park from the stage was Bath Town Hall and I always remember the look on Robert Plant's face when he was doing Whole Lotta Love and during the screech at the end he heard his own echo coming back - so he kept screaming - and listening to the echoes. I am sure that this gave birth to the album track ;-) Remember, this gig was prior to the album. The Nice - I remember the bagpipers! Ten Years After did "I'm going home" as usual. The show was a "whos who" of British Blues - apart from Jethro Tull. I seem to remember that the admission price was 22s 6d - but as I bought my ticket a few weeks in advance it only cost me 18s 6d - good value! PS looking at your Led Zep photo - I was about 10 rows back from the photographer, and about 20 yards to the right of stage ;-)

Cheers, Mike Le Voi

Thanks for the excellent site its important that these seminal events are as well documented as possible. I have been boasting that I was there at the Bath Blues festival 1969 ever since.... I was eighteen then and memories are dim now - especially since I had partaken of a small yellow pill on arriving in Bath. I had travelled down from Banbury Oxfordshire with three American GI friends from Upper Heyford. My best memory was lying back listening to Zep doing Zep II pre-release. I can confirm that the echo effect from the buildings behind us added to the brilliant sound. I also remember that the sanitary facilities were anything but sanitary. On the way home that night we were pulled by the "fuzz" (Police) but luckily they did not search the vehicle.
I also saw the Hyde Park concerts of Blind Faith and The Stones but missed Hendrix on the I.O.W.
Tony Perring.

Oh what days they were,for years I told friends and family it was 1968? the first real festival I had been to,travelled down in a morris minor with L plates,my mate sitting in but getting so stoned he could not of helped me if needed.We got in without paying by climbing a wall and running like the wind,the setting was unique right in the town with those lovely buildings,led zeppelin were definitely on in the afternoon,they stopped people in their tracks,there were some of the best blues bands around at the time and some good "folksy stuff" I recall us going into one of the local pubs everyone was just hanging out,sitting on the pavements and soaking up a great atmosphere, when along comes a lady in a tweed suit shouting out at the top of her voice "what you lot need is a damn good hosing down" never a truer word spoken, all the best to you, fabulous site.

love 

Dave Buck .

Hi
 
I've just stumbled onto this site.
 
I was prompted after seeing the led Zep DVD because it featured White Summer. The first time I had heard it properly in 35 years.
 
I have somewhere a mono tape recording of the Nice and Led Zep playing White Summer etc. It was an awful recording but you could just make out the tunes. And the Bag pipes.
 
Jim North

Hi
Trying to confirm dates of events that I attended found the site.
Great.
I have a total of eleven photos which I took from on the stage of Blodwyn Pig and within the compound area of Led Zeppelin. Page playing a LP Gold top. [I may even be the guy in the white top to the right of the stage in the Strachan photos],Chicken Shack,The Nice and John Peel. I will get them scanned and email them to you ASAP.
I cannot find any mention of the two stage set up which worked well.
I also think that Clouds were due to play after TYA but I am unable to remember whether it actually happened.
Mike Wheeler

The Bath Festival of Blues, June 28th, 1969 
I was amazed and delighted to find your web-site.  Fogy-Rock Lives!  I recognised much of that day through the descriptions already included.  Here’s mine.
 
I travelled to Bath on a coach from Barnstaple in North Devon, a callow self-absorbed, short-haired, going-on-eighteen youth, who wanted to be Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix and Pete Townshend.  This was my first rock concert too.
 
We got there at about 11.30 am and my memory tells me it was a hot June day.  I and my friend sat on the grass looking towards the stage and desperately tried to adopt what we thought was the coolest possible posture.  I thought, 'gosh, there aren’t that many people here.'  Then I looked behind me to discover that a sea of bodies had silently formed and now stretched away to the back of the Bath Recreation ground.  I remember feeling awed by the vastness of the crowd, though I was told later, (or read a quite possibly innacuarate press report), that numbers reached 40,000.  Big enough for an unworldly rock fan from an inaccessible Devonshire market-town, however.  And, like Stuart Godfrey, I was very much in awe of the 'real' freaks, sporting 'real' long hair and apparently very much at ease with 'rock culture' as it was purveyed in the must-reads of the day, International Times and Oz Magazine.
 
The ‘toilets’, I remember, consisted of little sentry-box style tents, inside which square holes had been dug into the turf.  These holes filled up very quickly!  Food was purveyed via ice-cream vans, charging exorbitant prices, selling ice-cream, hot-dogs and warm fizzy drinks. Revolting they were too.  I went hungry for the whole day, having lost my friend in the crowd when I went to find the toilet at about 12.00pm, and then run out of money.
 
Yes, the sound quality was very good as were the acts.  Being at the time naively puritanical in my musical tastes and ever on guard for falsehood, hypocrisy and rip-offs, I was very disappointed that there were not more ‘real’ blues artists there.  Champion Jack Dupree: Yesss!  John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers: Yesss!  I couldn’t allow myself to enjoy Led Zeppelin and was shocked and amazed once again, when, towards 11.00pm, during Fleetwood Mac’s set, a particularly long-haired individual saw fit to scream "Play Shake Your Money-Maker, or I’ll kick yer fuckin ' 'ead in!"  This response to the peerless rock-blues guitar of Saint Peter Green really insulted my sensibility of the counter-culture edicts of Peace and Love!  I really enjoyed the Edger Broughton Band doing an 'exorcism'.  The united cry of 'Out demons, out!' still reverberates down the long, dim alley-ways of my memory.   
 
Does anyone reading this remember the idiot-dancers down the front?  There were four or five people dancing like mad, directly in front of the stage, all day.  They must have been tripping or speeding – they were definitely on something! They kept interrupting the music by falling headlong into the fenced-off area that contained all the wiring for the amps and p/a. .At around 6.00pm(?), while John Mayall was playing, (I don’t remember which number), one of them fell into the wiring again.  Outraged by his insensitivity  and selfishness, the crowd launched a hail, though to me it looked very much like an upwardly pouring fountain, of bottles, tins and other rubbish, into the fenced-off area and on top of the unfortunate celebrant of the Religion of Lyfe.  John Mayall, (for it was even he), said, sotto voce, though audibly,  "Stop playing…stop playing."  The band stopped.  His saxophonist walked up to a microphone and yelled, via 2000 watts of p/a and for all, anywhere near the centre of Bath, (and to my personal delight), to hear,  "We aint playin’ in this fuckin’ mess!"  An embarrassed silence swept through the ranks of the rubbish-throwers and the upwardly-pouring fountain slowly but surely fell backwards and ceased.  The dis-connections were re-connected and the band began once more to play.  John Peel had to keep warning the crowd that every interruption was delaying the getting of bands on stage and in due course, by the time the music licence ran out, Clouds and Babylon were unable to play.  Ah, well: a lesson there for us all. 
 
I thereafter became sceptical of the ability of human-kind to feel loving or peaceful, I’m afraid and didn't go to another big festie until Glastonbury, 1987.  More fool me, I'm sure.  It was a formative experience nonetheless and one that I have treasured and dined out on ever since.
 

Nick Sainsbury, Bristol.

Led Zeppelin were one of the first bands to appear on the right hand stage. My main recollection was of their brilliant take of ("I asked her for water.....she gave me....) Gasoline".
Adrian Henry also appeared on the right hand stage.
John Mayall's acoustic set was interrupted by a number of people in front of the left hand stage who started throwing cans. He himself immediately ordered the band to stop playing announcing that (quote:)" I am not playing to this fucking mess" and together with the band left the stage. John Peel took to the mike and to rapturous applause announced the facilitation of an area well away from the arena, where those who wished to throw cans at each other in isolation should feel free to do so. Or words to that effect!
I can remember Christine Perfect (as she was then ) playing with Stan Webb and Chicken Shack. The lead on Stan's guitar stretching weIl into the crowd. I distinctly remember her soulful rendition of " I would rather go blind....".
Thank you for this brilliant site. Hope this information recalls for others some of the same precious memories that I hold.

Best wishes,

Frank Butler.
Perth,
Western Australia

My memory of Chicken Shack was of John Peel stood there waiting to introduce them while they finished sorting themselves out. Then Stan Webb took out of his pocket a large handkerchief, so Peel announced something
along the lines of "And now let's all share in this rather touching moment as Stan clears his nose".
Somehow I just can't imagine that happening today.
It was my first outdoor festival at the age of 17, and set the way for the following year's extravaganzas at Shepton Mallet and IOW.
If I ever go though Bath I look at the Recreation Ground and find it hard to believe it could have happened in such a place.
Cheers
Tony Wickham

I was 16 at the time and came down from Reading on the coach with a couple of friends. Charles 'Shaar' Murray, a contemporary at school was also on the coach and played what seemed to be fantastic blues harp on the way down, doing a great version of Train Time (Cream?). Anyway, I remember Liverpool Scene very well! Adrian Henri sang a great tune about Enoch Powell and I can remember the words to this day: "Enoch Powell makes me feel like a septic bowel, last week's knickers, two consenting vicars". Definitely of its time!
I too was struck by how beautiful the girls were and how much I wanted to have long hair. The next year I felt the game was up completely - it was all slightly Altamonty and a bit brown acid. Maybe I'd just grown up a little.
Jeff Chambers

Really cute to find this site. Brings back a lot of memories. I was 18, coming from Norway to England the summers of 68, 69, 70 and 71 for music, love and - strawberrypicking! I came down from London on train the night before with my friend Konrad from Norway and Barbara from London. We slept in sleepingbags on the pavement outside the playground. The group that impressed me the most was Taste. Never heard of them before I think. Later I also saw them on Isle of Wight 1970 - along with Jimi Hendrix on his last big gig. Great live performers. Ten Years After also did a good show in Bath, and the Chicken Shack was great. I think Stan Webb was carried around in the crowd while playing guitar? I also remember The Liverpool Scene with Adrian Hendry doing some strange things on stage. Strangely enough I can't seem to remember Fleetwood Mac - on of my favorite bands! I saw them earlier on a great consert i London - in a school/university.
Well, thanks for making this site, brought up some great youth moments!
Greetings from Norway - Geir

My first open air event. I was seventeen and travelled from Cardiff with a mate on a bus that an enterprising sixth former had booked. I don't suppose we had ticket but we must have paid to get in when we arrived. As we were waiting for the bus in The Parade in Cardiff the local drug squad turned up and checked us over. I remember being quite pleased at the time. They didn't find anything - well it was Cardiff and it was 1969.

I've still got the programme and it is annotated with all sorts of embarrassing comments which I'm not going to share with you. I remember being unimpressed by Edgar Broughton. A year or so later I remember a mate had a letter published
in the melody maker that said Edgar Broughton was like Beefheart without the heart.

Music apart I remember that we were pretty hungry by the afternoon and there was nothing laid on so I climbed out of the site to buy a loaf of bread at a local shop. I mean aren't you supposed to climb in to festivals! I must have climbed back in because I remember the guy I was with turning his nose up at the bread because I had to break it with my hands. Funnily enough weare still in regular contact.

Music??????.Well I remember Led Zeppelin, John Mayall, Fleetwood Mac and Ten Years After in particular. The Ten Years After set included an extended version of I'm Coming Home which turned up in their Woodstock set a month or so later. I'm pretty sure that Ten Years After closed the day. In those days TYA also did a catchy little number called "Good Morning Little School Girl". The lyrics make me cringe when I think of them now. Gawd, if they sang that song today they'd end up on some sort of register. How times have changed -for the better actually.

However,my most vivid memory of bath 1969 is of some guy walking along in the evening with a half pint beer bottle in his hand and indiscriminately breaking it over some poor innocents head. This wanton act of violence is etched in my memory. The perpetrator ran off and the victim was immediately surrounded by friends etc. It was one of those rites of passage moments. I'd seen scraps behind the bike sheds but nothing as callous as this. I often wonder what happened to the poor guy who was attacked.

That act of violence didn?t diminish my enthusiasm for out door rock n roll. The following year we were at Shepton Mallet for the second Bath Festival and then on the Isle of Wight for the Hendrix festival. Thirty eight years on I'm looking forward to Glastonbury and Beautiful Days. But I'll never forget that poor guy being assaulted by somebody that I took to be a stranger.

And I've never seen anything as vicious since.
Glyn Austin
Cowbridge, Vale of Glamorgan

Hi,

Just reminiscing and playing some Rory Gallagher (Taste) and my mind wondered back to when I went to the Bath Blues Festival in the late 60's. Wasn't sure of which year it was (68 or 69) but some googling said it must have been 69!
Me and a mate came from Kent on my scooter, a Vespa 150 super in light blue (reg HKP38D - its worrying what you remember isn't it!). It was a hell of a journey as someone (me?!) had put the wrong spark plug in the bike and it kept overheating every few miles, but we got there. Definitely remember the pipers on stage (Nice). Just wish I could remember more as looking at the line-up it looked really great, but I guess it must have had a lasting impression as 37yrs later I'm still listening (and enjoying!) the same music.

The best thing though is my youngest (at 17) just thinks that Led Zeppelin are the greatest!!!!!

John

A limited edition of reprints of the 1969 and 1970 Bath festival posters can be bought online here
www.rockmusicposters.com
Rock festival memorabilia from various festivals can be viewed here

The pages below will eventually feature set lists, band line ups, press reports and recollections of the performances as well as links to other sites on the web if they become available.

Contents
 

If you have photos, recollections, set lists, newspaper reports or tapes of the event then email us and we'll add them to the site. Contact email

Bands in order of appearance.(l to R)

Just Before Dawn.	Deep Blues Band	Colosseum	Roy Harper.	Keef Hartley.	Edgar Broughton
Liverpool Scene.	Champion Jack Dupree.	Chicken Shack.	Blodwyn Pig	The Nice	Led Zeppelin
	Taste	John Mayall	Fleetwood  Mac.	Ten Years After	Mc John Peel

Bands listed below most probably did not perform

Bath 69 reviews

Contact email

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