I had been to a number of festivals that summer, including Goose Lake which was large (Stooges were memorable), but was awed by the scale of the physical production in the raceway. Was fairly near the stage the whole time. Didn't bother with a tent or sleeping bag (though I had them in the car), just slept on the ground when necessary through the weekend. Missed some acts on account of sleeping. Don't remember the intense heat that people talk about. Do remember walking with some nudists to a watering hole--or was it a river?

Hendrix was the highlight for me, and probably most people. The effect of his show and the fireworks during Star Spangled Banner were undoubtedly enhanced by an excellent purple micro dot. I can still see his helicopter taking off--it seemed sad.

On the way back north I stopped in Atlanta and picked up a poster, like the one I saw on the tree, in a head shop. This prized possession later got ripped off. I'd love to replace it. Interestingly, the poster currently being sold is not the one I had. Mine had a big exploding firecracker with the names of the bands in little pieces of fallout. I'd be delighted to have even a color copy. Any help?

there was a tractor trailer cab w/ sleeper parked back in trees which became my bunk. doctor/buddy had scripted me 100 hits speed so I traveled legal & had swapping material. came to get & stay hi & soak in the experience so don't have a coherant narrative, more like images.

Would like to say remember alot 'bout music, think example hendrix did anthem sunday morning but that may have been at Miami pop. I have no regrets about my days in the counter-culture. As a 'Nam infantry officer (67-68) I came back with a good dose of repressed ptsd and with GI bill proceeded finish college. Took me about 9 months to tune in, turn on, drop out. Proved very cathartic tho' you had to know, like an orchid appearing overnight, it couldn't last. As a retired engineer I'm bout half off the grid and harbor sweet longings we will turn away with our obsession with materialism and adopt more of the hope & joy those days carried. If anyone remembers the gold pontiac lemans convertable giving away soda, the mack truck in the back yard or other of these tales would enjoy hearing.

The most memorable moment was losing my virginity during Jimi Hendrix's Star Spangled Banner as we fucked for "Old Glory".

We parked a good distance away and rode in on the hood of someone's car. It was thrilling to be part of such a crowd. In the festival, we watched people camping under the trees and hanging out. As it got dark we were in front of the stage, talking with people. Everyone was friendly and they were passing around jugs of something, which my mother would not let me touch.

The next morning the sun was in my face and someone was already talking from the stage and the music started again. I don't remember bringing food or eating at all but we must have. I suppose my friends gave me a ride home. It was a great adventure and I'll always remember (although not very clearly) being part of such a huge gathering and a type of event that was unique to that era and will not come again.

I'd gone to the 1st Pop Festival the year before, but wasn't prepeared for the numbers of people, the openness of the lifestyle and the sheer joy of sharing the music with so many like-minded folks in Byron.

I would like to inquire about rumors i've heard that Duane and Jimi jammed onstage together at some point during this festival. Can anyone who was there verify these rumors? Because if they are true, then wow! Those are two of the greatest souls whose fingers ever graced a fretboard and thinking about them being in the same place at the same time and making music, sweet music together, well, that just sends ice up my backbone.

The next 3 days were a blur. I have never seen so many people in mass. Drugs were rampant. Georgia State Police just turned their backs on it. It was my first contact with real hippies. The heat was unbearable. I do remember Hendrix playing, John Sebastian, BB King. We were college kids from Texas and were awestruck by the sights and sounds we experienced.

Years later and two ex-wives, I was playing in a band with one of the guys who was in that other Texas group who went to the Atlanta Pop Festival in 1970.

When we got to the festival there were people everywhere. We parked and walked a long, long way but it was so cool because we talked with so many people on our way into the area. I remember one area being like a drug supermarket, but there weren't any hassle from cops. We made our way down to a lake, striped and jumped in for a cool splash.

I was taking a nap on a banket in the middle of thousands of people who were listening to music, when Pat woke me and said, "You're gonna want to see this." It was the beginning of the Hendrix set, complete with fireworks. I think it was a little past midnight.

But, what great memories. I really enjoyed showing the pictures from this site to my 18-year-old daughter but her comment to me was that it was too bad there weren't any really cool festivals like Byron anymore.

Anyway, we had a great time and I consider it one of the best times of my life....and I've had some great times!

When I got to the festival the Hells Angles were collecting tickets. I never saw so many dealers with open shops before or after this event. Some people don’t know that down one of the paths going in the woods was another band playing on a 10 foot cliff. The cliff was lined with topless chicks and the electric cool aid was being passed around like wine.

Bill Overton

Other musical memories include Salvage Grace, Ballinjack, Allman Brothers Band, BB King, Mountain, Procol Harum, Chamber Brothers, Lee Michaels, Poco. I'm sure I saw others but was too stoned to realize it. What has happened to me? I have comprimised a bit in order to live but I am still a hippie in spirit.

Saw Jimmi that night and we had to tie all of us together with rope so we would not get lost from each other.Camped out,didn't have much to eat but who cared right.

We headed out early Saturday morning. When we got near the exit, there were so many cars, the best you could do was park at the truck stop right off the exit, then head to the festival on foot. There were hundreds of cars driving about 5 miles an hour (if that fast) and hundreds of us on foot. Every now and then, someone would jump on the hood or top of one of the cars making their way to the festival, but it was faster to walk as there were so many cars.

The energy was fantastic, folks were bathing in the creek, drugs were flowing and faces were smiling. Saturday evening we walked around and visited different tents, everyone was sharing their goods and there was so much loving energy and togetherness everywhere. The music was great, but secondary to the energy amongst the people.

This was a great festival, so many people, so much love and great music; I have always wondered why it's not one of the festivals that you hear about, but I'm glad to have found this site. Peace to all of you, perhaps we shared a smoke, or sat next to each other.

Really, though, We had a great time, more of a lifetime experience. Arriving a week ahead of time was the best part. It was HOT, but we were just kids (I was 18). When we arrived, the pool in the campground across the highway from the 'Festival' was clean and blue. When we left, the water looked like a grey poluted mess and the diving board had been broken off.

Each day we would, in the heat of the afternoon, take off our cloths (except for our shoes), walk the few feet to the highway, pick a car (the traffic was non-stop in both directions for about two weeks) and set down on the hood and ride down to the creek. We kept cool and clean. All of the people in these cars were apparently Voyeurs 'cause all they wanted to do was look... especially when someone "fired up one of those funny cigarettes".

The best thing, though, was the music. I remember little of it, though, through the "fog". I remember Poco and the Allmond Bros. (Did Johnny Winters really jam with them?) I remember Jimmy Hendrix and Richie Havens... and Mountain. and John Sebastian... and Procal Harium....

In an era of MTV and a lost generation, I feel I was privy to see what the awesome sixties and seventies were about. I rode by that old racetrack a couple of weeks ago passing through Byron, and it is still there with a driving range in front of it. I would love to see a monument put there in it's honor.

I was 14 at the first Atlanta festival. The only reason I was able to go is because my parents didn't have a clue what was about to go on down there. I don't guess anybody did. Anyway, at some point (Saturday, I think) some more of my friends from Conyers showed up and said "man, your parents are real mad and you better call them right away". If you were there you know what a joke call them 'right away' was.

I spent what seemed like over an hour getting through the crowd and halfway across the parking lot when they started playing. Oh Man...if they didn't open the door to netherland I don't know who did. Earth had never heard such a sound. I remember hearing this guy with a real high echoee voice going uh uhhhhh h h h h h and then a real high echoee guitar answering him. The fabric of space and time was being ripped; a big jagged tear that let a new age fly in. I would run back towards the festival then decide that it was too late to get there to see them. Then I'd turn around and head back in the other direction. It was bad and I was so mad at myself for making such a stupid move.

Short story #2: The next year at the festival in Byron, I wound up with this real bitchy girlfriend who found me there and stuck with me all day Sunday. She had cheated on me a few days before and now she was bitchin at me. I didn't want to miss Jimi Hendrix and I didn't want to watch him with a mean girl bitchin at me so I devised a plan of deception. We were sitting in the middle of the crowd and I knew if I said I needed to go back to the tent for something, she would stay there with her buddies and wait for whenever I came back (she didn't know Hendrix was comming up. You never knew which band was about to come up next and when you sat in the crowd all day it was normal for people to come and go).

I was too young and stupid and fried to come up with a better plan on the spot, so I wound up going back to the tent with her and kept telling her I didn't feel too good and that she was going to miss Hendrix if she didn't get on back, but none of that worked....I wound up listening to Hendrix and a bitchy girlfriend while staring at the sky.

All of a sudden, we heard this great band playing somewhere down throught the woods. It sounded like Little Richard. By the time we got set up and got to where the music had been comming from, the Allman Brothers were setting up. It was the FREE STAGE!!!! Most of my best memories of the second festival are from hanging out there. The best bands played there,unscheduled. I don't think the crowd there ever got to be bigger than 100 people. There were trees and shade and high hippies handing out free drugs.

I think my next biggest memory is of me sitting on the hood of a car doing about 30mph watching all these naked hippies swimming in what had been a beautiful private lake. My mind shows a busted down chain link fence, a couple doing the 69 down the slide into the water (you figure that out), and a once white beach covered with untanned butts, matted hairdos, smoke, busted watermelons, electric coolaid and wine jugs and just about everything else that a 15 year old mind could possibly imagine, and then some, all seen at 30 mph from the hood of a car. Ah...the good ole days.

They were giving out salt tablets because people were falling out in the day time..The night that jimi played the water facets that had put out in the fields had ran out of water. A sweet person in line gave us some water melon to keep us going till we got back to camp.

I was 17 at the time and what a great time it was. I came from chicago with a 3 car caravan we were there four 4 or 5 days. I have always wanted to find information about the festival so this site is a real blessing.

I remember the Chamber Brothers doing the song Time and everybody was really into to it. If I'm not mistaken Jimi Hendrix came on next and I everbody's energy was spent and Jimi looked bored.

Rob Kora

Had an amazing time, went backstage and they let us go onstage while Mark Farner (yum!) was singing. Because of the heat, did some reds, passed out, but woke up in time to see Hendrix rock the Star Spangeled Banner-awesome.

Didn't happen.

We knew lots of folks there from Chattanooga, and would hang out with different folks here and there...I remember Steve Wright started one of his mind raps on some hapless guy who freaked out and threatened to kill him if he didn't shut up. I think I may have saved Steve's life by dragging him away.

Also remember having stomach cramps during Hendrix's set due to taking acid I got from "The guy with the Mickey Mouse ears" before we were warned... And the young girls tearing off their clothes as they ran to meet the water truck- not a fire engine but a construction type truck- spraying water. And I can still see the folding table drug bazaar lining several approaches to the site. I did't go skinny dipping in the pond, but I did do something memorable- I got a light for a joint from a cop. Definately strange times.

And I liked John Sebastion, but I thought he was better with the Spoonful.

I still remember it like it was yesterday, that is, it's kind of hazy...

One of the other vivid memories of that time was when the riots were coming down Peachtree Street, I placed my speakers outside my store and cranked up the volume to ‘Volunteers of America’ as the clash of wills rumbled past.

I was there also and fortunate to get on stage and took some photographs. I have some pictures displayed and will be posting others in the future.
Please drop-in for a visit for a Pop-Culture voyage.

Took three 14 year old neighbor girls with me. We camped in the pecan orchard before anyone arrived, but it filled up quick. I went to a funky fast food place and Terry Reid was behind me waiting to order too and we talked...me and English rock star on a country Georgia 2-lane.

Interestingly, after the festival was over, the Allman Brothers and Spirit and maybe members of the Dead (?) came back to Piedmont Park late at night ..it was a real nice warm summer night ...set up and jammed wonderfully for hours to a buzzed and happy crowd. Some cops showed up just looking and then later saw some cops taking off their hats and dancing in a long daisy chain of people snaking thru the crowd to the music. The whole thing was great.

No one in Middle Georgia had every seen anything like this. My Mom was a nurse and help man the OD tent. It was wild. I still live in the area the raceway is now a golf driving range and about 15 years ago they found a wiskey still underground under the grandstand.

My now 17 year old gave me for X-mas last year a DVD of Hendrix shot at that festival - nice but wished it had more info on the whole festival. I don't remember much in the way of details, just the heat and a totally peaceful atmosphere.

I drove down Friday night with my friends Barbara, Roger and Waldo. We thought it was IN Atlanta and when we were south of Atlanta and kept driving wondered if we wouild ever get there. By the time we got there they had crashed the gates so we just walked in thru a maze of people selling things I had never seen or heard of before.

The BEST memory of all was seeing Jimi Hendrix doing the Star spangled banner at night on the 4th of July and the Chambers brothers doing "Time" with the tourches on stage. It was a sight I will never forget.

When Hendix played with fireworks going off (and military red flares with parachutes) behind him I passed out (too much acid) - everyone thought I was dead - (just in Electric Ladyland)

After a week in Cal Steve & I decided to thumb home via "Atlanta's second" with the $4 Steve had in his pocket. Picked up a ride in Memphis interstate that was also going. Didn't take long to meet with Susan, Mathew V and other Daytona locals already there.

Local families with "locked cars" driving through the masses. Does anybody remember "Chicken Man" on the stage? Good time, no conflicts, hot! Vivid recall (I think) of Hendrix playing the Star-Spangled Banner at midnight on the Fourth.

I was sitting next to a fellow from New Orleans that had never heard the brothers. I told him to be prepared to be blown away and he was, we all were. I saw most of the bands including Hendrix, who I had seen in 1968 in Atlanta. I have a DVD of the Hendrix show, he was the highlight. Also enjoyed Poco, Procol Harum, Mountain, Gypsy. One night we were sitting around the campfire passing joints and ripple and folks were stopping by and leaving and a girl came up behind and sat next to me. I turned and spoke and to my suprise, she was nude! Well it was just the times and I pretended not to notice and she acted as fully dressed. I remember catching rides on cars to the lake and river and dying of thurst and heat during the day.

The music and the people are what I have the most fun recolecting. People who were not there just dont know what it feels like to have heard Hendrix play his, at the time, very radical version of the SSB, So loud that the notes seemed to permiate your very being while watching the light show above etch itself into your brain - - wow. The time has come today, ticcccc toccccc.... Freedom, Freedom... God those were some fine sets.Having grown up in the city, I had seen many of the acts at the Fillmore (East), including the Allman Brothers (wiht their double bass drum), but out in that field, out in the air it was just incredable.

Peace and Love

BTW, I returned to the army, got an article 15, paid my fine and got on with my life.

While we were blazing up the bong, Donnie told us of the possibility of getting REAL work on the construction crew building the fence and the stage for the second Atlanta pop festival at the Middle Georgia Raceway in Byron, Georgia. He was very unclear about where and how he came by this information, but assured us it was reliable. Freak-friendly jobs? He thought so.

As more and more people began arriving, we realized there were a lot of people we recognized from Memphis--the people who lived and/or partied at the "Big House," at Central & Belvedere in Memphis. We had been there. Hell, most of the crew was from there. We had some tenuous connections--Alice Ferguson and her friend Amanda were the only ones I could match with names, and they did not remember who the hell I was. Donnie was well acquainted with many of them.

i was 10 years old i heard from the Great Festivals in the 60s and 70sAtlanta, Woodstock, Texas Pop, Montery and many others that was a great Time playingso beautefull Bands ALLMAN BROTHERS,MOUNTAIN, J.WINTER,HENDRIX, JETHRO TULL, HAMPTON GREASE BANDand all the great stuff

My band, Amazing Routes, lives in the tradition from the Music of the 70si am the Guitarplayer i loved the guitarplaying from Duane Allman, please look and listen to the music from my band at the http://www.amazingroutes.com 4 new songs from the band

Greetings from germany to the USA

Amazing Routes Band

i also went to the First atlanta Pop Festival--lived and loved Atlanta Georgia--the memories are so clear even after all these years--the gals stripping and jumping off the bridges--the georgia state troopers did not seem to mind at all --LOL---yeah we got the bright idea of going to take a swim-me and Crazy Roger-Gyspsy--Little Bit--Angel- God so many wonderful people that i loved and lived with at times

There was a lake with a sandy beach and a water slide. My friend and I sat on a bench between two pine trees with our feet in the sand watching hundreds of skinny dippers lining up girl boy girl boy_each couple would go down the slide together and the crowd in the water would critique there performance by cheering and pushing water up in the air. One particular good 69 got a thirty foot high waterwall ovation. It seems like Byron was bigger and better than Woodstock_but it is strange how little has been recorded.

P.S. The Alkopolka Gold was $12.00 an ounce LID

Rolled in that night to a scene so surreal I thought I'd smoked myself into an altered state -- dust, cars, a sea of people and more cops than I could handle in my sudden panic of stoned paranoia which soon had me thinking about what life in a Georgia prison would be like -- we were, after all, sitting on quite a stash -- Colombian redbud, hash, Morrocan keif (does anyone remember keif, a tobacco-hash mix?), clinical LSD and mescaline (both absolutelypure, clinical, good!).

And so the weekend began. From watching my life flash in front of me to quickly slipping into the amazing wonder of hundreds of thousands of people getting high and having a really freaking good time. I dropped clinical mescaline later that night and spent the entire night trucking around meeting people,just letting it all sort of roll over me and through me, just taking it in.

I spent the entire afternoon tripping around in the water. It was a blast. People had everything imaginable out there as rafts, boats and floats -- tubes, rafts, floats, tree trunks,etc -- and it was a party on the water. So, the heat never was a big deal for me that day. Hours of water party later, with somewhat wrinkled skin and even more wrinkled mind (nicely wrinkled), back to shore where my clothes and stuff were just as I left them.

I remember sitting next to a brown haired young lady, and we seemed to be hitting it offquite well. We shared a few pipes from my stash, and I turned her on to a hit of the clinical.She asked me "can you roll some hash in a joint?" I answered, "yes, technically it is possible to do so,but it sure would be a lot easier to just load up the pipe." We were laughing, sitting there in the dirt, when Hendrix started playing and fireworks were going off. You know, I was getting off like a fat rat on that clinical, and at first I didn't think there really were fireworks, I just thought it was part of my trip at first. Well, I guess it was, but not just in my head...:)

Spent the rest of the day in a laid back way, until we packed up and hit the road home.

You know, I attended a lot of festivals and outdoor shows throughout the early 70's, even the Dead-Band-Allman Bros "Summer Jam" at Watkins Glen, 1973 (the biggest gathering ever).None came close to the feeling, the magic of the Atlanta Pop Festival, which as I look back on it now I see it as the peak of the Summer of Love in the south, although I agree with one of the posters on this site who said the summer of love seemed to last a few years in the south.

Thanks for letting me ramble. Hope it perks some memories.

I will desbribe what I can remember, and hopefully someone here will know what I'm looking for. It definitely WAS 1970, 71, perhaps even 72, but no later than 72. I don't remember who performed. We managed to get a parking space (no trees) near to the fence that surrounded the staging area, so we were on the 'main drag' of the festival area. Across the two-lane road were woods that were the domain of the Hells Angels mostly, hookers trading for drugs, and drug dealers. Hells Angels were the "cops" for this event, and we saw many of them carrying chains, baseball bats and the like, and a few of them got out of hand in our opinion.

Anyway, there was no pool, just that pond, it WAS hot, dusty, and loads of ppl...some pretty strange, like the guy who enjoyed his morning walks completely nude with a chicken (yes, a live chicken) on TOP of his head.

Yes, it was hot. So hot the CO2 fire extenguisher in the equipment truck exploded.

Our performance? No one cared. They had all been up until about 4:00, they hadn't slept, it was 100 degrees, and you could smell the dope-smoke 3 miles downwind.

The other scene was on top of the main gate to let ambulances into the "area". The crowd was pushing so hard from the rear that they were crushing the people at the closed gate. Alex made the decision "Either we open the gate or someone is going to die." We opened the gate.

Spirit was on another level altogether. Randy California (RIP)played a beautiful unaccompanied guitar solo with an echoplex that was mesmerizing and Ed Cassiday played just about every object on the stage during his drum solo!

I remember a few more things too. We picked up several hitchers who hung out with us some at the festival. People were basically friendly and cool to be around - I don't recall being concerned for my safety other than when I saw some bikers with weapons openly carried (one guy had a rifle slung across him). I can't remember much of anything about what I ate or drank while I was there.

I'm grateful that my mother trusted me (and Jackie) enough to let me go. It's not likely that this sort of thing will happen again in my lifetime.

I remember quite vividly standing less than scantily clad as close to the stage as possible while Hendrix played the Star Spangled Banner with that spectacular fireworks display as a background. Does anyone know what happened to all of the movie footage that was shot? I can't believe no one ever assembled it into a rockumentary or something.

By the way if there are more pictures of the old Chakra band I'd love to see them.

We drove down I-75 to the Byron exit that morning of the 3rd and got into that traffic jam that you see, finally getting to the field where we sit up base camp. I was in the early part of my career as an E.M.T.working at Grady Hospital in Atlanta, my home town. I remember the LSD stands on the side of the road and the GSP at the lake where everyone was naked in the water.

I worked in EMS until 1985 and was assigned to hundreds of concerts but nothing like Byron, Georgia.

n the words of my mom when I finally got back to the Greyhound bus station in downtown Nashville, Tennessee in the latter part of August, "call June and ask if she wants to go to Panama City, Florida with us, and we will not speak of this ever again. You and I will talk about this once and for all and as far as I'm concerned, it never happened. You put me and your father thru a hell I don't ever want to repeat, and I only hope you can earn my trust in you again". And that, was that.

My mom was interested in politics, so anything I was interested in got her attention and approval most times. I remember purchasing my Rolling Stone Magazines and The Great Speckled Bird at the head shops along with the beads and incense and other things that were becoming popular at the time. Had my mom realized how much I was into the whole 60's and early 70's movement, I think she might have rethought her position with me.

When I found out there was another Atlanta Pop Festival, I knew I had to redeem myself and get in good with mother, so that she could somehow convince my dad to let me go. This wasn't going to be easy. I had to promise the moon almost. You have to understand, I'd not come home from Woodstock for over 10 days and for all practical purposes, my parents had feared I was dead or run off to San Francisco to "do drugs and drop out". It didn't help that I had started burning incense, my tastes in music had changed radically in the past few years, I was wearing my hair like all the other girls (parted in the middle which was more natural for me anyway).

I remember my dad taking me to the downtown bus station and sitting there and making me swear on his bible that I'd call him and mother at every stop down to Atlanta and the concert site. He also warned me that he

We continued down the road until we reached the "main street" on the left was the stage area and on the right was a "street" where drugs were being sold openly. I remember seeing a sign, "acid alley". We headed up the alley and I don't remember much after that but I didn't do any acid. We headed back down to the river to cool off. It was getting late in the afternoon when we parked the mustang near the bridge, undressed and hit the water. I remember seeing "rednecks" standing on the bridge with their cameras and videos shooting away. We waded and swam for about an hour and then headed back to the car. This is when it gets kinda freaky. I discovered that I had locked my keys in the car, Hey, I was excited OK. A couple from New Jersey happened to be comming by and the guy had the keys to his mustang around his neck. He put his key in my lock and opened the door!!! We stayed with this group the next two nights. I don't remember any names but the guy had a box of screaming yellow zonkers or something like that, it was a snack food. Thats what I had for supper that Friday night. I woke early Sat. morning and threw up the sceaming yellow zonkers.

That night we saw the Allman Brothers and I think Edgar Winter but I'm not sure. Then we got the show of a lifetime when Jimi Hendrix took the stage. I made my way to the front and whatched the artist put on an unforgettable show. Hendrix was .... shall we say well worth the price of admission? I'll never forget the experience, yes pun intended. I was right there during the Star Spangled Banner and the fireworks. Hendricks must have played for an hour and a half. It was truly an amazing performance. I didn't last long after Hendrix. The next morning we were done. We gatered up our stuff and headed back to SC. Jim was pissed because we could not find the purple microdot that he had purchased Saturday night. A few weeks later a girlfriend and I visited some friends in Conway, SC who had recently married. When I told them how coo it was to swim with all those naked people we smoked a joint and took off our clothes. Sounds silly and maybe it was but no harm ever came of it and it never happened again.

Anyway, we were stoned on acid and it was kind of anything goes festival. There were Hell's Angels all around, people were openly selling psychedelics in make-shift stands as if one were trying to buy something to drink. It was not a "sex, drugs, rock and roll, peace" festival.. it was more like a combat zone. Helicopters were flying overhead, ambulances with sirens were abundent.. kind of like an emergency was happening..... anyway, the Chamber Brothers just sang 'Time'... and had left the stage,... then there was a kind of errie silence.. the kind of silence when you can tell something big is about to happen....then without any other announcement... the P.A. guy screams out............................... JIMI HENDRIX!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

what a night... I'll never forget it... I understand one cannot go back.. but I really do miss those days... Now it's been nearly thirty five years since.. What a time....

I think we had tickets, but it didn't really matter because the chain link fence was down and we just walked in. Lots of people. We walked along the edge of the field where the small shops were set up under tents; mostly selling pipes, incense, and 70's stuff. We got as close to the front as we could and listened to, I think it was John Sebastian?? We fell asleep.

Cars were parked everywhere. Ours was in a field right off the interstate. I guess we were hungry because we went to the restaurant in the hotel at the I75 intersection. Just a bit crowded. Too crowded to get a seat.

Being raised in the South, I knew this had to be like an alien invasion for most of them. We got some ice (I think) and made it back to the car. We linked up with some guys that had just gotten back from Vietnam. They were very intertesting to talk to. We drank some "cold" beer and enjoyed the late morning. I was loving it. I was 16, drinking beer with some Vietnam guys, in a place that was, for a short time, completely cut off from the "normal world". We made it back to the festival area. This is when I noticed the crowd was a bit more rowdy and bizarre.

About this time I began to notice the motorcycle guys that were in the background. I was a bit intimidated, but curious. You had your feel good hippies, young high school rednecks (hippie wannabees), freakazoids, and then these kinda of scary dudes. They weren't Hell's Angels, but the local Outlaws out of Atlanta, I believe. I just kept my distance and tried to look respectful. Anyway the Vietnam vets were with us, and I felt they would protect us young kids. Now the memories get hazy. I won't go into the details of why. I did get split off from the group and went out on my own. I got as cl

There was a warm, hazy orange sundown on Friday, setting behind the Allman Brothers, as they grooved and played a fully classic jamming show. Perfect. I recall looking up at the speaker towers over the stage, and a beautiful blonde girl was pointing at me, playing some kind of game. Cosmic moment. Shoot! She was so far away! I think after that it rained. A bunch of us huddled under a plastic sheet and did some nice bowls. One of the guys had a program and was trying to figure out who was playing next. He got really excited and started exclaiming, "Beefheart! Beefheart's gonna play!" I hadn't heard of Captain Beefheart at that time, so I thought the guy was nuts. We took in a lot of music that night.

The next day, Saturday, Jim and I wandered around and took in some of the music early in the day. We saw Mott the Hoople and Spirit. Spirit is one of those great, lesser known bands. It's funny that one of their songs, "Fresh Garbage" was recycled by Pink in Charlies Angels 2... modern times.

It seemed like paradise to me. There were good old boy locals hiding in the bushes, watching young hippy girls giving each other mud baths, smearing slick mud clay all over each other's bodies while sitting in some of the lake's backwaters. We found some vegetarian food to eat, back at the festival camp grounds were our base was, and then headed over for more music.

By Sunday we just didn't care any more and our ride back to NY was leaving around noon. So, that's my story. I hope the DVD footage comes out, so I can try and remember what happened. Thanks Carter, for this website enabling a community to form around those good times. Keep the music and magic alive!

By the time the second festival came to Byron I had left home and school for the "strip" in Atlanta and fully explored this new lifestyle. I came home to Griffin a few months before Byron after a run in with the law. I worked a local job to earn enough money to buy a ticket to Byron and went down about a week early.

I avoided the acid but the weed was plentiful and I don't think I had a completely unstoned period the entire weekend. I did spend some time helping out in the OD tent with some friends.

There are so many other memories, good and bad, that are too numerous to go into here. It was a special time and although my current life would have me avoiding the experiences again I would trade nothing for them.

The Gang consisted of in no particular order Lanny Swaim notable keyboardist and songwriter in his own right, Garry Dixon God rest his soul great drummer and vocalist, Gregg Walker very accomplished guitarist and downright brainy guy, Greggs' brother Dwight Walker, longtime friend and pretty neat individual who I hope sees this and gets in touch with me, Mike Harris funny guy and one of the best bassists I have ever heard or seen,Terry McMillan all around crazy guy and Hellacious harmonica player the only one in the bunch to go on and have an actual career in music GO TERRY, Remember harmonica on Dr. Pepper commercial thats him, Rachel Swaim Lannys' sister and all around sweet person, and finally Wanda Johnson, Lannys' girlfriend at the time.

I don't know where that one guy was that said he only saw 1 portable shitter but there must have been a couple thousand where we were I still remember playing the Jiffy Johnny Blues with Terry McMillan and dropping a G harp in the shitter when I got up to leave. Terry was right next door and thought that was some funny noise coming out of that shitter. I do remember the dump trucks full of water coming around to fill up the cans with the spigots on the sides and the fire trucks squirting people down on Saturday. I couldn't believe all the people and little or no water. The heat was just ridiculous, I honestly don't think a lot of people would have made it without drugs.

You know what they say. That if you can remember the 60's and 70's you weren't really there. Unfortunately there is a lot of truth to that. Doing drugs and drinking til you dropped was considered recreation back then. And the older I get the harder it is to remember anything at all! But, I do still have some memories of that hot summer in Byron, GA that have never left me. In fact that whole period of time was incredible. And I remember thinking at the time that it was an extraordinary time in which to be living. American culture was changing before our very eyes.

Actually I can't remember who went in my car. But, it had my high school buddies. I do remember thinking that Atlanta was a misnomer because the festival was nowhere near Atlanta. But, we eventually found it. In fact, you couldn't miss it. Traffic was backed up for miles. And suddenly you were in the midst of thousands of like minded individuals. This was no small thing in 1970. At that time hippies were treated as badly as blacks in much of the south. (I still think that someone tried to poison me in a small diner in South Carolina just because I had long hair. But, that's another story.) I seem to recall the crowd was estimated at 250,000, but I've seen estimates twice that. The truth is probably somewhere in the middle. And this is where the disbelief comes in when I tell my friends about the festival. They can't believe that they never heard of it if it was that large. But, I've only run into one other person since then that was there who wasn't one of the people I already knew. Where did all those people go? Well, some of them have turned up here. After all these years.

We spent the days checking out the site. Flatbed trucks had brought in ice and water and were making a fortune selling it. Everyone was smoking or doing acid. I remember a swimming pool somewhere that was completely brown from everyone jumping in to cool off. And I remember seeing one port-a-john. One port-a-john. For thousands of people. Maybe there were more. But, I don't remember seeing them.