The second Atlanta International Pop Festival was a rock festival held in a soybean field adjacent to the

Middle Georgia Raceway The Middle Georgia Raceway was a raceway located in Byron, Georgia, in the United States. Nine NASCAR Grand National Series races were held at the track between 1966 and 1971. Richard Petty won four races, Bobby Allison won three, and David Pears ...

Byron, Georgia Byron is a city located primarily in Peach County, Georgia, United States. A small portion of the city also extends into parts of Houston and Crawford counties. The population was estimated to be 5,149 in 2019 by the Census Bureau, an increas ...

, from July 3–5, 1970, although it did not finish until after dawn on the 6th.West, Kirk (11 September 2002),Liner notes, '' Live at the Atlanta International Pop Festival: July 3 & 5, 1970'' It was the only successor to the first Atlanta Pop Festival, which had been held the previous summer near Hampton, Georgia. The event was promoted by Alex Cooley, who had helped organize the '69 Atlanta festival as well as the '69 Texas International Pop Festival, and two years later would promote the Mar Y Sol Pop Festival in Puerto Rico from April 1–3, 1972.

History

Like 1969's

Woodstock festival Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held during August 15–18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, United States, southwest of the town of Woodstock, New York, Woodstock. ...

, the event was promoted as "three days of peace, love and music." Tickets for the festival were priced at $14. Also like Woodstock, it became a free event when the promoters threw open the gates after large crowds outside began chanting "Free, free, free. Music belongs to the people" and threatened to overwhelm even the biker security crew the promoters had hired.Abram, Malcolm X. (Summer 2000). "Byron Pop, 1970 – Woodstock, Middle Georgia Style". ''Hittin' the Note'' – Issue #29.Alvarez, Eugene. (Summer 1992). "Byron, Ga., Became 'The Woodstock Of The South'". ''Georgia Journal''.Beeman, Paul. (1970-07-05). "Byron Festival Free To Most Of 200,000". ''Atlanta Journal and Constitution''. Crowd estimates for the festival varied widely at the time, and still do, ranging from 150,000 to 600,000.Beeman, Paul. (1970-07-05). "Byron Festival Free to Most of 200,000". ''The Atlanta Journal and Constitution'', pp. 1A & 10A.Richard L. Eldredge FOR THE JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION, Arts & Entertainment
"What a splash: Recalling Georgia's 'Woodstock'"
, ''The Atlanta Journal and Constitution'', 07-04-1995, pp E/07. Construction crews worked at the festival site for over a month prior to the event's opening day building the main stage, two spotlight towers atop soaring tree-trunk tripods, an eight-foot tall plywood fence surrounding the entire 11.7-acre audience seating area, and other facilities.Beeman, Paul. (1970-06-28). "Hippies Working? And They Don't Bite! – Mid-Georgia Prepares For Festival". ''The Atlanta Journal and Constitution''. A separate, much smaller stage – the "Free Stage" - was also built some distance away in a wooded camping area to accommodate impromptu performances by mostly local Georgia musicians who wanted to play during the festival, and many did - including

The Allman Brothers Band The Allman Brothers Band was an American rock band formed in Jacksonville, Florida in 1969 by brothers Duane Allman (founder, slide guitar and lead guitar) and Gregg Allman (vocals, keyboards, songwriting), as well as Dickey Betts (lead guita ...

. During the construction phase, the band Wet Willie performed for the construction crew but did not perform during the festival itself. The festival sound system was supplied by Hanley Sound of Medford, Massachusetts, and a rear-projection light show was provided by The Electric Collage of Atlanta, both of which had provided similar services at the first Atlanta Pop Festival the previous summer. Temperatures at the festival were sweltering, surpassing 100 degrees Fahrenheit every day. Nudity and drug use were widespread, but local law enforcement officials, who knew they were vastly outnumbered, stayed outside the festival gates and employed a general 'hands-off' policy towards most festival-goers during the event's duration. However, Georgia's colorful governor,

Lester Maddox Lester Garfield Maddox Sr. (September 30, 1915 – June 25, 2003) was an American politician who served as the 75th governor of the U.S. state of Georgia from 1967 to 1971. A populist Democrat, Maddox came to prominence as a staunch segregatio ...

, who had tried repeatedly to prevent the festival from taking place, vowed that he would do whatever it took to block any similar event in the future. The state legislature willingly complied and enacted sufficient restrictions to make it much more difficult for anyone to organize another rock festival in the state. A third Atlanta Pop Festival never took place.

Performers

Over thirty acts performed on the main stage during the course of the event: *

* Ballin' Jack *

Bloodrock Bloodrock was an American hard rock band based in Fort Worth, Texas, that had success in the 1970s. The band emerged from the Fort Worth club and music scene during the early to mid-1970s. Early career Bloodrock initially formed in Fort Worth in ...

* Bloomsbury People *

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Cat Mother & the All Night Newsboys Cat Mother and The All Night Newsboys was an American musical group, originally formed in New York and later based in Mendocino, California, most active in the late 1960s and early 1970s. History Cat Mother and The All Night Newsboys was co-foun ...

* Chakra *

The Chambers Brothers The Chambers Brothers are an American psychedelic soul band, best known for their eleven-minute 1967 psychedelic soul hit " Time Has Come Today". The group was part of the wave of new music that integrated American blues and gospel traditions w ...

Goose Creek Symphony The Goose Creek Symphony is an American rock band with roots in Arizona and Kentucky. They were formed in 1968 in Phoenix, Arizona as an outlet for the songs of Charlie Gearheart, aka Ritchie Hart, and were best known for their 1972 cover of Jani ...

Grand Funk Railroad Grand Funk Railroad (often shortened to Grand Funk) is an American rock band formed in 1968 in Flint, Michigan, by Mark Farner (vocals, guitar), Don Brewer (drums, vocals), and Mel Schacher (bass). The band achieved peak popularity and succ ...

* Gypsy * Memphis State University cast of "Hair" *

Hampton Grease Band The Hampton Grease Band was an American rock band, beginning as a blues rock group in the late 1960s in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. They performed with several major bands in this period, including Grateful Dead and the Allman Brothers. Th ...

* Handle *

Richie Havens Richard Pierce Havens (January 21, 1941 – April 22, 2013) was an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. His music encompassed elements of folk, soul (both of which he frequently covered), and rhythm and blues. He had a rhythmic guitar styl ...

Hedge & Donna Hedge and Donna were an American folk and folk-rock duo comprising Keene Hedge Capers (born February 21, 1945) and Donna Marie Carson (November 13, 1946 – November 21, 2019). They recorded six albums between 1968 and 1973. On their final album ...

The Jimi Hendrix Experience James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. Although his mainstream career spanned only four years, he is widely regarded as one of the most ...

* It's a Beautiful Day *

Johnny Jenkins Johnny Edward Jenkins (March 5, 1939 – June 26, 2006) was an American left-handed blues guitarist, who helped launch the career of Otis Redding. His flamboyant style of guitar playing also influenced Jimi Hendrix. Career In the 1960s Jenki ...

* B.B. King * Lee Michaels *

Mott the Hoople Mott the Hoople were an English rock band formed in Herefordshire. Originally known as the Doc Thomas Group, the group changed their name after signing with Island Records in 1969. The band released albums throughout the early 1970s but fai ...

Mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher ...

Poco Poco was an American country rock band originally formed in 1968 after the demise of Buffalo Springfield. Guitarists Richie Furay and Jim Messina, former members of Buffalo Springfield, were joined by multi-instrumentalist Rusty Young, bassis ...

Procol Harum Procol Harum () were an English rock band formed in Southend-on-Sea, Essex in 1967. Their best-known recording is the 1967 hit single " A Whiter Shade of Pale", one of the few singles to have sold over 10 million copies. Although noted for ...

* Radar * Rare Earth * Terry Reid * Rig *

Savage Grace ''Savage Grace'' is a 2007 drama film directed by Tom Kalin and written by Howard A. Rodman, based on the book ''Savage Grace'' by Natalie Robins and Steven M.L. Aronson. The story is based on the highly dysfunctional relationship between heires ...

John Sebastian John Benson Sebastian (born March 17, 1944) is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist and harmonicist who founded the rock band The Lovin' Spoonful. He made an impromptu appearance at the Woodstock festival in 1969Bob Seger Robert Clark Seger ( ; born May 6, 1945) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. As a locally successful Detroit-area artist, he performed and recorded as Bob Seger and the Last Heard and The Bob Seger System throughout the 1960s, break ...

System * Spirit *

Ten Years After Ten Years After are a British rock group, most popular in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Between 1968 and 1973, the band had eight consecutive Top 40 albums on the UK Albums Chart. In addition, they had twelve albums enter the US ''Billboar ...

* U.S. Kyds *

Johnny Winter John Dawson Winter III (February 23, 1944 – July 16, 2014) was an American singer and guitarist. Winter was known for his high-energy blues rock albums and live performances in the late 1960s and 1970s. He also produced three Grammy Award-win ...

Jimi Hendrix performed at around midnight on the

Fourth of July Independence Day (colloquially the Fourth of July) is a federal holiday in the United States commemorating the Declaration of Independence, which was ratified by the Second Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, establishing the United States ...

to the largest American audience of his career, presenting his unique rendition of the "

Star-Spangled Banner "The Star-Spangled Banner" is the national anthem of the United States. The lyrics come from the "Defence of Fort M'Henry", a poem written on September 14, 1814, by 35-year-old lawyer and amateur poet Francis Scott Key after witnessing the bo ...

" to accompany the celebratory fireworks display. The Anunga Runga Tribe of the musical

HAIR Hair is a protein filament that grows from follicles found in the dermis. Hair is one of the defining characteristics of mammals. The human body, apart from areas of glabrous skin, is covered in follicles which produce thick terminal and fi ...

, which had performed for two weeks in April 1970 on the campus of Memphis State University, were the last act to perform, following Richie Havens, who opened his set at dawn on Monday morning (July 6) with his version of "Here Comes the Sun." Among the artists billed in various promotional materials and programs but who did not perform at the festival were:

Captain Beefheart Don Van Vliet (; born Don Glen Vliet; January 15, 1941 – December 17, 2010) was an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and visual artist best known by the stage name Captain Beefheart. Conducting a rotating ensemble known as Th ...

Ginger Baker's Air Force Ginger Baker's Air Force was a jazz-rock fusion supergroup led by drummer Ginger Baker. History The band formed in late 1969 upon the disbandment of Blind Faith. The original lineup consisted of Ginger Baker on drums, Steve Winwood on orga ...

, Taos, Jethro Tull,

Ravi Shankar Ravi Shankar (; born Robindro Shaunkor Chowdhury, sometimes spelled as Rabindra Shankar Chowdhury; 7 April 1920 – 11 December 2012) was an Indian sitarist and composer. A sitar virtuoso, he became the world's best-known export of North In ...

, Country Joe and the Fish,

Judy Collins Judith Marjorie Collins (born May 1, 1939) is an American singer-songwriter and musician with a career spanning seven decades. An Academy Award-nominated documentary director and a Grammy Award-winning recording artist, she is known for her ec ...

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, and

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Audio recordings

Not long after the festival, little-known country singer Paul Wilson recorded a song called "Hippie Invasion" about what he considered to be the seamier side of the festival crowds, which was released on a 45 rpm record by Country Town Records. In 1971, Savage Grace, one of the bands who performed at the festival, released their second album, ''Savage Grace 2'', which contained "Macon, Georgia", a song they had written about some of their festival experiences. Also in 1971, Columbia Records released a triple-LP record album called ''The First Great Rock Festivals of the Seventies'', featuring tracks by numerous artists recorded live at both the Second Atlanta International Pop Festival and the

Isle of Wight Festival The Isle of Wight Festival is a British music festival which takes place annually in Newport on the Isle of Wight, England. It was originally a counterculture event held from 1968 to 1970. The 1970 event was by far the largest of these early ...

. Jimi Hendrix's Atlanta Pop Festival performance was recorded and eleven songs from his set were later released as one of the four CDs in a 1991 box set called '' Stages,'' a release featuring one live performance from each of the four years of Hendrix's short but high-profile career. In 2003, The Allman Brothers Band released a recording of their festival opening and closing performances, '' Live at the Atlanta International Pop Festival: July 3 & 5, 1970''. In February 2014, Columbia/Legacy released a 4-CD box set, ''True to the Blues: The Johnny Winter Story'', which features three tracks recorded live at the festival, two of which were previously unreleased. In 2015, a more complete recording of sixteen of the songs in Jimi Hendrix's set, with improved audio quality, was released as a double CD and a separate double vinyl LP package called '' Freedom: Atlanta Pop Festival''.

Festival poster

The promotional poster for the festival was one of three such posters designed by artist Lance Bragg to advertise the three successive pop festivals promoted by Alex Cooley: the first Atlanta Pop Festival and the Texas International Pop Festival, both in 1969, and the Second Atlanta Pop Festival in 1970 – all of which featured a similar design motif. The posters for both Atlanta festivals are featured in the book ''The Art of Rock'', which states, "The success of large-scale festivals, like the two Atlanta International Pop Festivals… helped create a new image for Southern rock."

Historical marker

2nd Atlanta Pop Festival Historic Marker

On September 15, 2012, a ceremony was held near the site of the festival to unveil and dedicate an official historical marker commemorating the event. The marker text reads: "In the 1960s, as American culture changed rapidly, new forms of music and performance emerged, including large outdoor rock festivals. From July 3–5, 1970, the Second Atlanta International Pop Festival, one of the largest such events anywhere in the world during that era, took place in a field 600 yards west of here. Over thirty musical acts performed, including rock icon Jimi Hendrix playing to the largest American audience of his career, and Macon's Allman Brothers Band on their launching pad to national fame. Officials estimated that the festival drew several hundred thousand young people to Byron that weekend. Organized by renowned Atlanta concert promoter Alex Cooley, it remains one of the largest public gatherings in state history."Kulkosky, Victor. (2012-09-19). "Byron Pop Festival Gets Historic Marker". ''The Leader Tribune'', Peach County, GA. Official sponsors of the marker were the

Georgia Historical Society The Georgia Historical Society (GHS) is a statewide historical society in Georgia. Headquartered in Savannah, Georgia, GHS is one of the oldest historical organizations in the United States. Since 1839, the society has collected, examined, and tau ...

, the Byron Area Historical Society, the Georgia Allman Brothers Band Association,

The Allman Brothers Band Museum The Allman Brothers Band Museum, also known as The Big House, is a museum in Macon, Georgia, United States. It was the home to The Allman Brothers Band's original members, their families, and various friends from 1970 to 1973. The Big House wa ...

at the Big House, and ''Hittin' the Note''. The marker dedication ceremony was hosted by festival site landowner Tim Thornton, and featured Cooley, Byron Mayor Larry Collins, officials of the sponsoring organizations, and a crowd of festival attendees and fans.

Documentary film

Also on September 15, 2012, the first audience test screening of a full-length documentary film on the festival was held in Macon, GA, by the film's director, Steve Rash. A second test screening was held two nights later in Atlanta. On July 30, 2014, two more test screenings were held at the

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), sometimes simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum and hall of fame located in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States, on the shore of Lake Erie. The museum documents the history of rock music and ...

in Cleveland, Ohio. The film features performances by most of the major musical acts appearing during the festival, as well as significant coverage of festival attendees, local residents, and the many other activities that swirled around the festival. Rash is re-editing the film based on feedback received during the screenings, and plans an eventual public release.Thornton, Tim. (2012-09-05). "Marker, Film to Honor Byron Pop Festival". ''The Leader Tribune'', Peach County, GA. On September 4, 2015, a feature-length documentary on Jimi Hendrix's Atlanta Pop Festival performance, "Jimi Hendrix: Electric Church", was aired on the US cable TV channel Showtime. The film not only featured substantial live footage of the performance, but interviews with Hendrix's bandmates, other musicians, those who organized the festival and shot the film, and residents of Byron, Georgia. The film was released on

Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of st ...

and DVD on November 6, 2015.

References

External links

Alex CooleyThe Electric Collage light showEarl McGehee's photos of the Atlanta Pop Festival - 1970Dennis Eavenson's photos of the 2nd Atlanta Pop FestivalFacebook group on both Atlanta pop festivalsThe Strip Project's chronicle of the festival
{{Rock festivals 1970s in Atlanta 1970 in American music 1970 in Georgia (U.S. state) Rock festivals in the United States Folk festivals in the United States Hippie movement Jam band festivals Pop music festivals in the United States Music festivals established in 1970 1970 music festivals July 1970 events in the United States