Fact #126373
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The Celebration Of Life festival opens at Celebration Island, Pointe Coupe Parish, Louisiana, USA. The event includes performances by The Beach Boys, Miles Davis and B.B. King.Full article:
“The Celebration of Life looks like being the only large music festival solid for the summer,” declared America’s hippy bible, Rolling Stone magazine, on 10 June, 1971.
It certainly seemed that way when promoter Steve Kapelow announced it. The annual Sky River Festival was off, the Monte Largo Ranch Festival was ‘postponed’, and the Green Earth Festival was looking shaky. But Kapelow, as the man behind the Toronto Rock and Roll Revival plus the Atlanta and New Orleans Pop Festivals, had the know-how to get it right. He promised ‘Eight Days In The Country’ on an island in the Mississippi River with The Beach Boys, Chuck Berry, Miles Davis, Pink Floyd, B.B. King, John Lee Hooker, The Allman Brothers, and over 30 more. The $28 ticket would include a carnival, seminars, sitar jams and fireworks.
Before long, however, Rolling Stone was reporting that the romantic Mississippi island site was off. Kapelow was investigating alternatives, but when his team started drilling wells near Oloh in Lamar County, Mississippi, local authorities took out an injunction to prevent a festival.
Just four days before opening, scheduled for June 21, Kapelow shelled out $20,000 to lease Cypress Point Plantation, Pointe Coupee Parish, 50 miles north-west of Baton Rouge. 30,000 fans were soon camped along local roadsides, but police blocked all access roads to the site, because health authorities had been given no opportunity to check sanitation, water supply and other potential hazards.
When the gates opened on Thursday 24 June, it was clear that many of the major bands promised were not going to show, but the kids remained intent on having a good time. “I went there as someone who missed out on Woodstock but was eager to have the rock festival experience,” remembers photographer Bryan Moss. “I've never been much of a music aficionado, so I wasn't attracted by the bands that were featured. I was interested more in the scene, as my pictures show.”
According to post-festival reports, the Celebration Of Life turned out more like a Carnival of Death. One 20 year old drowned on Wednesday. A festival stage-hand OD’d within hours of the opening, while Sister Morphine was being played over the PA. A second drowning followed on Friday, and a methadone overdose took another teenage life on Sunday. On the hastily-established Cocaine Row and Smack Street, plastic syringes at $1 each were selling briskly. “I don't have any personal experience with how grim the drug scene was,” says Moss. “I witnessed nothing but marijuana use, which was pretty much free and easy.”
Perennial festival cheermeister John Sebastian was the first act to perform, enthusing the throng with a medley of goodtimey Lovin’ Spoonful hits, but of the other major names, only Chuck Berry appeared. The crowd, nevertheless, boogied down with second-rung entertainments including Boz Scaggs, Delaney and Bonnie, Stoneground, Bloodrock and the Amboy Dukes. “One morning I woke up to the sounds of It's A Beautiful Day,” notes Moss, “and I was so captivated by their music that, when I went home, I bought all their albums.”
Horrific as the death-toll was, Moss’s account of the general ambience varies dramatically from the picture painted by the media and the local authorities. Foreman of the Police Jury of Pointe Coupee Parish, Walter H. Claiborne, fumed, “We have been visited by every form of depravity and obscenity. We have been forced to stand idly by and witness flagrant violation of the law.”
Moss, however, roamed freely around the site taking pictures that showed another side to the story. “The experience was wonderful for me, and I think for most of the crowd. I was taken with the communal atmosphere, that thousands of people gathered together and shared drugs, food, shelter and music. I never lacked a warm dry place to sleep.”
According to the festival’s medical officer, Woodstock veteran Dr William Abruzzi, water, food and medical supplies were inadequate, but Moss recalls “a pretty good infrastructure. Food wasn't scarce, and there was even a little stand where I could get my morning cup of coffee. The police were friendly, and droves of locals trooped in to see semi-naked hippies swimming in the river. While it lasted, it was one of the biggest cities in Louisiana, and it had its share of problems, but there was far less trouble than you might expect of a group that large.”
On Sunday night Steve Stills showed up and played free but by then the jig was up. The harassed Dr Abruzzi and his team pulled out, police stepped up drug arrests, the IRS was reportedly on Kapelow’s tail, and the festival was shut down just four days into its run.
Nevertheless, for the mass of kids who attended, the Festival Of Life was a hoot. “It was a beautiful thing,” said 18-year-old Margaret Sams. “All that love flashing around.” And Moss agrees. “For me, it was absolutely not a disaster, and is now a warm happy memory.”
FURTHER MEMORIES FROM PHOTOGRAPHER BRYAN MOSS…
Bryan Moss : I went there as a young journalist who missed out on Woodstock but was eager to have the rock festival experience. I've never been much of a music aficionado, so I wasn't attracted by the bands that were featured. I have no idea whether the actual acts were disappointing to the crowd or not. I was interested more in the scene, as the pictures show. For that matter, the pictures are my best statement of what it was. I have no opinion about whether it was overblown or not. For that matter, I did my usual journalist thing -- it was what it was.
I don't have any personal experience with how grim the drug scene was. I witnessed nothing but marijuana use, which was pretty much free and easy. I suspected that most any drug you wanted was available, but I have no personal knowledge of it.
Who played? I have to admit I didn't know many of the bands then and remember only that one morning I woke up in the crowd to the sounds of It's a Beautiful Day, and was captivated by their music, went home and bought all their albums.
The experience itself was wonderful for me, and I think for most of the crowd, too. It was a 60s scene, though technically 1971, with people who came together to listen to music and have a good time. That's what I saw and felt. I do remember that I was taken with the communal atmosphere, that thousands of people gathered together and shared drugs, food, shelter and music. My recollections are very warm and pleasant. I drove a rented car into the grounds, carried only my equipment, but never lacked food or a warm dry place to sleep. Sharing was the norm.
There seemed to be a pretty good infrastructure. Food wasn't scarce, and there was even a little stand where I could get my morning cup of coffee. The police who patrolled the site weren't abusive, but even friendly, and the locals trooped in in droves to see the semi-naked hippies swimming in the river and lolling around on the banks. I'm sure there was trouble. With that many people, it was one of the biggest cities in Louisiana for its duration, and I'm sure it had its share of problems. I don't recall births and deaths, but I think there were some of both. Since the crowd was mostly young idealistic music lovers who also came for the communal experience, there was far less trouble than you might expect of a group that large. They weren't there to be ugly to each other, they were there for the hippie goals of peace and love (and music, of course). I vaguely remember a couple of minor altercations, but nothing serious. The worst thing was the weather. It was very, very hot, and dry; that might have been a major problem, but the river was nearby to cool people off.
That's what I saw. That's what my pictures show. My experience may not have been typical, I suppose, since I can only speak for myself, but it certainly wasn't unusual. There were definitely no roving bands of unruly hooligans making trouble for the fun of it, like happened at the second Woodstock.
I left feeling that I had experienced something important and historical and fulfilling. And it seemed then that the Celebration of Life was the last of its kind, which is probably true, Steve Wozniak's efforts notwithstanding. For me, it was absolutely not a disaster, and is now a warm happy memory.
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It certainly seemed that way when promoter Steve Kapelow announced it. The annual Sky River Festival was off, the Monte Largo Ranch Festival was ‘postponed’, and the Green Earth Festival was looking shaky. But Kapelow, as the man behind the Toronto Rock and Roll Revival plus the Atlanta and New Orleans Pop Festivals, had the know-how to get it right. He promised ‘Eight Days In The Country’ on an island in the Mississippi River with The Beach Boys, Chuck Berry, Miles Davis, Pink Floyd, B.B. King, John Lee Hooker, The Allman Brothers, and over 30 more. The $28 ticket would include a carnival, seminars, sitar jams and fireworks.
Before long, however, Rolling Stone was reporting that the romantic Mississippi island site was off. Kapelow was investigating alternatives, but when his team started drilling wells near Oloh in Lamar County, Mississippi, local authorities took out an injunction to prevent a festival.
Just four days before opening, scheduled for June 21, Kapelow shelled out $20,000 to lease Cypress Point Plantation, Pointe Coupee Parish, 50 miles north-west of Baton Rouge. 30,000 fans were soon camped along local roadsides, but police blocked all access roads to the site, because health authorities had been given no opportunity to check sanitation, water supply and other potential hazards.
When the gates opened on Thursday 24 June, it was clear that many of the major bands promised were not going to show, but the kids remained intent on having a good time. “I went there as someone who missed out on Woodstock but was eager to have the rock festival experience,” remembers photographer Bryan Moss. “I've never been much of a music aficionado, so I wasn't attracted by the bands that were featured. I was interested more in the scene, as my pictures show.”
According to post-festival reports, the Celebration Of Life turned out more like a Carnival of Death. One 20 year old drowned on Wednesday. A festival stage-hand OD’d within hours of the opening, while Sister Morphine was being played over the PA. A second drowning followed on Friday, and a methadone overdose took another teenage life on Sunday. On the hastily-established Cocaine Row and Smack Street, plastic syringes at $1 each were selling briskly. “I don't have any personal experience with how grim the drug scene was,” says Moss. “I witnessed nothing but marijuana use, which was pretty much free and easy.”
Perennial festival cheermeister John Sebastian was the first act to perform, enthusing the throng with a medley of goodtimey Lovin’ Spoonful hits, but of the other major names, only Chuck Berry appeared. The crowd, nevertheless, boogied down with second-rung entertainments including Boz Scaggs, Delaney and Bonnie, Stoneground, Bloodrock and the Amboy Dukes. “One morning I woke up to the sounds of It's A Beautiful Day,” notes Moss, “and I was so captivated by their music that, when I went home, I bought all their albums.”
Horrific as the death-toll was, Moss’s account of the general ambience varies dramatically from the picture painted by the media and the local authorities. Foreman of the Police Jury of Pointe Coupee Parish, Walter H. Claiborne, fumed, “We have been visited by every form of depravity and obscenity. We have been forced to stand idly by and witness flagrant violation of the law.”
Moss, however, roamed freely around the site taking pictures that showed another side to the story. “The experience was wonderful for me, and I think for most of the crowd. I was taken with the communal atmosphere, that thousands of people gathered together and shared drugs, food, shelter and music. I never lacked a warm dry place to sleep.”
According to the festival’s medical officer, Woodstock veteran Dr William Abruzzi, water, food and medical supplies were inadequate, but Moss recalls “a pretty good infrastructure. Food wasn't scarce, and there was even a little stand where I could get my morning cup of coffee. The police were friendly, and droves of locals trooped in to see semi-naked hippies swimming in the river. While it lasted, it was one of the biggest cities in Louisiana, and it had its share of problems, but there was far less trouble than you might expect of a group that large.”
On Sunday night Steve Stills showed up and played free but by then the jig was up. The harassed Dr Abruzzi and his team pulled out, police stepped up drug arrests, the IRS was reportedly on Kapelow’s tail, and the festival was shut down just four days into its run.
Nevertheless, for the mass of kids who attended, the Festival Of Life was a hoot. “It was a beautiful thing,” said 18-year-old Margaret Sams. “All that love flashing around.” And Moss agrees. “For me, it was absolutely not a disaster, and is now a warm happy memory.”
FURTHER MEMORIES FROM PHOTOGRAPHER BRYAN MOSS…
Bryan Moss : I went there as a young journalist who missed out on Woodstock but was eager to have the rock festival experience. I've never been much of a music aficionado, so I wasn't attracted by the bands that were featured. I have no idea whether the actual acts were disappointing to the crowd or not. I was interested more in the scene, as the pictures show. For that matter, the pictures are my best statement of what it was. I have no opinion about whether it was overblown or not. For that matter, I did my usual journalist thing -- it was what it was.
I don't have any personal experience with how grim the drug scene was. I witnessed nothing but marijuana use, which was pretty much free and easy. I suspected that most any drug you wanted was available, but I have no personal knowledge of it.
Who played? I have to admit I didn't know many of the bands then and remember only that one morning I woke up in the crowd to the sounds of It's a Beautiful Day, and was captivated by their music, went home and bought all their albums.
The experience itself was wonderful for me, and I think for most of the crowd, too. It was a 60s scene, though technically 1971, with people who came together to listen to music and have a good time. That's what I saw and felt. I do remember that I was taken with the communal atmosphere, that thousands of people gathered together and shared drugs, food, shelter and music. My recollections are very warm and pleasant. I drove a rented car into the grounds, carried only my equipment, but never lacked food or a warm dry place to sleep. Sharing was the norm.
There seemed to be a pretty good infrastructure. Food wasn't scarce, and there was even a little stand where I could get my morning cup of coffee. The police who patrolled the site weren't abusive, but even friendly, and the locals trooped in in droves to see the semi-naked hippies swimming in the river and lolling around on the banks. I'm sure there was trouble. With that many people, it was one of the biggest cities in Louisiana for its duration, and I'm sure it had its share of problems. I don't recall births and deaths, but I think there were some of both. Since the crowd was mostly young idealistic music lovers who also came for the communal experience, there was far less trouble than you might expect of a group that large. They weren't there to be ugly to each other, they were there for the hippie goals of peace and love (and music, of course). I vaguely remember a couple of minor altercations, but nothing serious. The worst thing was the weather. It was very, very hot, and dry; that might have been a major problem, but the river was nearby to cool people off.
That's what I saw. That's what my pictures show. My experience may not have been typical, I suppose, since I can only speak for myself, but it certainly wasn't unusual. There were definitely no roving bands of unruly hooligans making trouble for the fun of it, like happened at the second Woodstock.
I left feeling that I had experienced something important and historical and fulfilling. And it seemed then that the Celebration of Life was the last of its kind, which is probably true, Steve Wozniak's efforts notwithstanding. For me, it was absolutely not a disaster, and is now a warm happy memory.