Fact #62421
When:
Short story:
The three-day long Texas International Festival gets underway at Dallas Speedway, Lewisville, Texas, USA, attracting 120,000 punters to boogie with Janis Joplin, B.B. King, Canned Heat, Led Zeppelin, Johnny Winter, Sly And The Family Stone, Sweetwater, Chicago Transit Authority, The James Cotton Blues Band, Delaney And Bonnie, Space Opera and Ten Years After. The event is kicked off by Grand Funk Railroad.
Full article:
Angus Wynne (promoter) : In our youth, we were very enthusiastic. We just didn't know how hare-brained an idea it was.
We would have liked to get Hendrix or (Jefferson) Airplane, who they had at Woodstock, but there were scheduling conflicts or whatever. But I think we had the acts that, at Woodstock, put on some of the best shows - Santana, Johnny Winter, Sly and Janis."
Sam Houston (mayor, Lewisville) : Woodstock had occurred just a little bit before, and it didn't take us long to learn about what we had on our hands. We had a very volatile situtation. Lewisville was a very small town (less than 8,000 residents) . . . and we did not know what was coming. I learned about it in July. The people who had the racetrack had already leased it out to the pop festival people, and it had already been pretty well solidified. ??We had no ordinances we could use to stop it. Frankly, we didn't realize what it was until . . . reporters started calling us from all over the country and asking us what we thought about it. ?
Henry Tatum (reporter, Dallas Morning News) : Our arrival at the festival site on the grounds of the old Dallas International Speedway quickly let us know this wasn't going to be like Woodstock. The crowds were orderly. There were enough restrooms and food stands. Private security and volunteers patrolled the area, lessening the opportunity for angry confrontations between long hairs and law officers. The sound system was spectacular. And if anything, the lineup of entertainers was superior to the one at Woodstock. ??The reporting team filtered out among the audience and into nearby Lewisville, getting local color. Were residents of the community disturbed that they had been invaded by freaks? No, the only thing that bothered them was that some of the hippies were swimming nude in Lake Lewisville and attracting a crowd of gawkers. ??I spent my time with a fellow who identified himself as "Wavy Gravy,' the leader of the Hog Farm commune. Wavy said he was there to help kids come down from bad LSD trips. Dressed in a Day-Glo flight suit and a floppy Gabby Hayes hat, he looked more like a bad LSD trip than someone who would be capable of warding one off. But his actions throughout the first night proved he knew what he was doing. ??Entertainment promoter Angus Wynne III, who had gambled just about everything on the Texas Pop Festival, wandered around backstage with a fixed smile of exhaustion on his face. His expression didn't even change when Janis Joplin announced onstage that someone had stolen her harmonica in a stream of four-letter words that would have embarrassed Eddie Murphy.
?Scott Fraser (guitarist-vocalist, Space Opera) : It was a mini-Woodstock in every respect, and it worked just fine. It was fun and it was well-controlled. I remember being onstage and seeing a vehicle flying through the makeshift campsite that was the audience and thinking, `I hope he doesn't run over a baby or a child,' but nobody was hurt. That was the only problem I remember.
Lu Mitchell (Dallas folk singer) : It was a very loving, gentle environment. Whatever discomfort we had, we endured, 'cause it was like, `We're all in this together and isn't it wonderful?' It was freedom - we'd been let out to do something we never thought we'd be able to do.
Sam Houston (mayor, Lewisville) : I wish it had never occurred. It certainly caused me nothing but misery and everybody in Lewisville nothing but misery. A few of the businesses may have prospered as a result of it, but the majority, it hurt them, I think.
Angus Wynne (promoter) : He (Sam Houston) was a real gentleman about the whole thing. In fairness to him, he was really concerned about his community and kind of picked up on the whole Woodstock propaganda thing that had been promulgated through some of the horror stories that the conservative press was spreading.??People thought, 'Here are these awful-looking kids, unchained, turned loose, torn from the pages of Life - out there fornicating and smoking dope and generally having a good time.'
Sam Houston (mayor, Lewisville) : The bunch out at Lake Lewisville Park was rowdy. . . . Plus, (there were) the people coming from out of town to observe the nude sunbathers and the goings-on in general. ??And there were all different groups. There were very conservative people who came out there to be with very liberal people, and it was just very volatile. . . . Anything could have set off one of the worst riots this country has ever seen, in my opinion. ??But it didn't happen, thank heavens. If anything bad had really happened, there would have been only one thing to do, and that would have been to have the governor call in the National Guard. I don't think there were enough police in North Texas to take care of it.
Police Chief Adams : If every pop festival could be as orderly as the one we had here, then I'm ready for another. I would trust those people with my life. ??Angus Wynne (promoter) : He (Police Chief Adams) got to know everybody pretty well and got to understand the so-called hippie point of view. He was immediately convinced that these were not bad people, that they were real easy to get along with and that, despite the long hair and the hippie look, they were just ordinary folks. And they all liked him a lot.
When all these kids came to town. they went so far out of their way to be nice to the residents. They would mow their lawns and call them "sir' and "ma'am' and pick up their trash. ??That was part of the mind-blow thing that went on here. People expected all these folks to be real nasty, and here they were handing them flowers, just as polite as they could be. It disarmed them totally.
Sam Houston (mayor, Lewisville) : If that happened, it was the exception rather than the rule.
Lucy McCall (audience) : There was a lot of room. Woodstock, I heard, was packed. This was a big field, and people were dancing all over the place.??What I encountered was love and peace and having one good time. The people were very good and kind. I didn't see much violence there; I wasn't around any. There was a lot of metaphysical what-have-you and artistic this-and-that. It freaked Dallas out completely.
I think probably everybody was stoned. But back then, the drug scene was not as sordid as it is now. Cocaine and heroin and speed have become a serious problem in this country.'
Angus Wynne (promoter) : Psychedelics and pot, I believe, were the prevalent stimulants of choice. People were less self-conscious about it than one would be in a closed environment where you might offend someone. ??Most of the people that were out there were of that emerging generation that participated in it or for whom it was not a big deal. So it was relatively easy going on that score.
We were afraid there would be a riot or something (when Sly Stone was two hours late going on stage). We were pleading for him to go onstage, but he wouldn't get out of that limo until he was good and ready.
Mike Rhyner (audience) : It was only Led Zeppelin's second time playing Dallas - they played at the Fair Park Coliseum about a month before. They were just so exciting, I mean it was obvious they were going places.
Philip Wuntch (journalist) : Janis Joplin was so earthy and so enjoyable to talk to. I knew she was the kind of person you would like to get to know. And she was captivating onstage.
Donna Franklin (audience) : I was kind of a square before that. I think the festival was what introduced me to all the music and the sharing and caring ideas. I went just to party, I think, but I remember feeling I had found so much more.
(Sources : Fort Worth Star, Dallas Morning News.)
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We would have liked to get Hendrix or (Jefferson) Airplane, who they had at Woodstock, but there were scheduling conflicts or whatever. But I think we had the acts that, at Woodstock, put on some of the best shows - Santana, Johnny Winter, Sly and Janis."
Sam Houston (mayor, Lewisville) : Woodstock had occurred just a little bit before, and it didn't take us long to learn about what we had on our hands. We had a very volatile situtation. Lewisville was a very small town (less than 8,000 residents) . . . and we did not know what was coming. I learned about it in July. The people who had the racetrack had already leased it out to the pop festival people, and it had already been pretty well solidified. ??We had no ordinances we could use to stop it. Frankly, we didn't realize what it was until . . . reporters started calling us from all over the country and asking us what we thought about it. ?
Henry Tatum (reporter, Dallas Morning News) : Our arrival at the festival site on the grounds of the old Dallas International Speedway quickly let us know this wasn't going to be like Woodstock. The crowds were orderly. There were enough restrooms and food stands. Private security and volunteers patrolled the area, lessening the opportunity for angry confrontations between long hairs and law officers. The sound system was spectacular. And if anything, the lineup of entertainers was superior to the one at Woodstock. ??The reporting team filtered out among the audience and into nearby Lewisville, getting local color. Were residents of the community disturbed that they had been invaded by freaks? No, the only thing that bothered them was that some of the hippies were swimming nude in Lake Lewisville and attracting a crowd of gawkers. ??I spent my time with a fellow who identified himself as "Wavy Gravy,' the leader of the Hog Farm commune. Wavy said he was there to help kids come down from bad LSD trips. Dressed in a Day-Glo flight suit and a floppy Gabby Hayes hat, he looked more like a bad LSD trip than someone who would be capable of warding one off. But his actions throughout the first night proved he knew what he was doing. ??Entertainment promoter Angus Wynne III, who had gambled just about everything on the Texas Pop Festival, wandered around backstage with a fixed smile of exhaustion on his face. His expression didn't even change when Janis Joplin announced onstage that someone had stolen her harmonica in a stream of four-letter words that would have embarrassed Eddie Murphy.
?Scott Fraser (guitarist-vocalist, Space Opera) : It was a mini-Woodstock in every respect, and it worked just fine. It was fun and it was well-controlled. I remember being onstage and seeing a vehicle flying through the makeshift campsite that was the audience and thinking, `I hope he doesn't run over a baby or a child,' but nobody was hurt. That was the only problem I remember.
Lu Mitchell (Dallas folk singer) : It was a very loving, gentle environment. Whatever discomfort we had, we endured, 'cause it was like, `We're all in this together and isn't it wonderful?' It was freedom - we'd been let out to do something we never thought we'd be able to do.
Sam Houston (mayor, Lewisville) : I wish it had never occurred. It certainly caused me nothing but misery and everybody in Lewisville nothing but misery. A few of the businesses may have prospered as a result of it, but the majority, it hurt them, I think.
Angus Wynne (promoter) : He (Sam Houston) was a real gentleman about the whole thing. In fairness to him, he was really concerned about his community and kind of picked up on the whole Woodstock propaganda thing that had been promulgated through some of the horror stories that the conservative press was spreading.??People thought, 'Here are these awful-looking kids, unchained, turned loose, torn from the pages of Life - out there fornicating and smoking dope and generally having a good time.'
Sam Houston (mayor, Lewisville) : The bunch out at Lake Lewisville Park was rowdy. . . . Plus, (there were) the people coming from out of town to observe the nude sunbathers and the goings-on in general. ??And there were all different groups. There were very conservative people who came out there to be with very liberal people, and it was just very volatile. . . . Anything could have set off one of the worst riots this country has ever seen, in my opinion. ??But it didn't happen, thank heavens. If anything bad had really happened, there would have been only one thing to do, and that would have been to have the governor call in the National Guard. I don't think there were enough police in North Texas to take care of it.
Police Chief Adams : If every pop festival could be as orderly as the one we had here, then I'm ready for another. I would trust those people with my life. ??Angus Wynne (promoter) : He (Police Chief Adams) got to know everybody pretty well and got to understand the so-called hippie point of view. He was immediately convinced that these were not bad people, that they were real easy to get along with and that, despite the long hair and the hippie look, they were just ordinary folks. And they all liked him a lot.
When all these kids came to town. they went so far out of their way to be nice to the residents. They would mow their lawns and call them "sir' and "ma'am' and pick up their trash. ??That was part of the mind-blow thing that went on here. People expected all these folks to be real nasty, and here they were handing them flowers, just as polite as they could be. It disarmed them totally.
Sam Houston (mayor, Lewisville) : If that happened, it was the exception rather than the rule.
Lucy McCall (audience) : There was a lot of room. Woodstock, I heard, was packed. This was a big field, and people were dancing all over the place.??What I encountered was love and peace and having one good time. The people were very good and kind. I didn't see much violence there; I wasn't around any. There was a lot of metaphysical what-have-you and artistic this-and-that. It freaked Dallas out completely.
I think probably everybody was stoned. But back then, the drug scene was not as sordid as it is now. Cocaine and heroin and speed have become a serious problem in this country.'
Angus Wynne (promoter) : Psychedelics and pot, I believe, were the prevalent stimulants of choice. People were less self-conscious about it than one would be in a closed environment where you might offend someone. ??Most of the people that were out there were of that emerging generation that participated in it or for whom it was not a big deal. So it was relatively easy going on that score.
We were afraid there would be a riot or something (when Sly Stone was two hours late going on stage). We were pleading for him to go onstage, but he wouldn't get out of that limo until he was good and ready.
Mike Rhyner (audience) : It was only Led Zeppelin's second time playing Dallas - they played at the Fair Park Coliseum about a month before. They were just so exciting, I mean it was obvious they were going places.
Philip Wuntch (journalist) : Janis Joplin was so earthy and so enjoyable to talk to. I knew she was the kind of person you would like to get to know. And she was captivating onstage.
Donna Franklin (audience) : I was kind of a square before that. I think the festival was what introduced me to all the music and the sharing and caring ideas. I went just to party, I think, but I remember feeling I had found so much more.
(Sources : Fort Worth Star, Dallas Morning News.)