Voices of Esalen

Big Sur Folk Festival 1969: Part Two


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Today, we bring you part 2 of the Big Sur Folk Festival, 1969. The BSFF occurred at Esalen Institute on September 13th and 14th of 1969, just about a month after Woodstock. As related in part one of this two part series, the festival was captured in a documentary called "Celebration at Big Sur," directed by Baird Bryant and Johanna Demetrakas - available on YouTube, a great watch.
Set list for part 2:
-John Sebastian, formerly of the Lovin Spoonful, with “Rainbows All Over Yours Blues"
-"Woodstock" by Joni Mitchell, who accompanies herself on piano. -Some audio of an audience member, a school teacher who identifies as "a freak."
- ”Red-Eye Express" performed by John Sebastian with Stephen Stills
- “Malagueña Salerosa" by Carol Ann Cisneros
- an extended ”Down By the River" by Crosby Stills Nash and Young.
-“Sweet Sir Galahad" by Joan Baez
- to end the show, "Oh Happy Day" by Dorothy Combs Morrison and the Combs Sisters, accompanied by Joan Baez.
Some trivia about some of the musicians:
-Joni Mitchell was dating a member of Crosby Stills Nash and Young at the time, Graham Nash.
-Joni's song “Woodstock” was in fact inspired by the famous music festival, but she did not attend. Instead she opted to stay in New York City and appear on the Dick Cavett show.
-John Sebastian: He was a founding member of the Lovin' Spoonful, known for hits like "Do You Believe in Magic?" and “Summer in the City." The Spoonful imploded after a 1967 marijuana bust. In the 80’s Sebastian began writing and recording music for children’s TV, including 1983’s "Strawberry Shortcake: Housewarming Surprise" and 1985’s "Strawberry Shortcake Meets the Berrykins."
-Stephen Stills: a founding member of Buffalo Springfield who wrote one of the most recognizable songs of the 1960s, "For What It’s Worth." Buffalo Springfield broke up in 1968, and Stills joined with David Crosby of the Byrds and Graham Nash of the Hollies to form early supergroup Crosby Stills and Nash. Neil Young wouldn’t join them until August 1969, just a few short weeks before the performance that you’re about to listen to.
-Dorothy Combs Morrison won a Grammy in 1969 for her song "Oh Happy Day," which ends this episode - it reached #4 in the US and #1 in France that year. It was recorded in a church in Berkeley, California, a couple hours away from Big Sur. George Harrison stated that "Oh Happy Day" was a primary influence for his 1970 hit “My Sweet Lord.”
-Joan Baez dated Steve Jobs in the 1980s. He was in his mid twenties and she was in her 40’s. DIdn’t matter. She was Joan Baez. At the time that Big Sur Folk Festival occurred she was married to an activist named David Harris, who was in prison in 1969 for refusing to serve in the armed forces. (In part one, we hear “Song for David,” written to her man behind bars.) During this performance, Baez is actually seven months pregnant; her son, Gabriel, was born in December 1969. Baez's performance of Pete Seeger’s We Shall Overcome during the 1963 March on Washington is one of the most enduring images of the 1960s. In 1964, she publicly endorsed resisting taxes by withholding 60 % of her income. In 1972, Baez traveled to North Vietnam, to address human rights in the region, and was caught in a bombing of Hanoi, North Vietnam, during which the city was bombed for eleven straight days. Al Capp, the cartoonist for the strip Li'l Abner, created a character called "Joanie Phoanie" based on Baez - a communist radical who sang songs about class warfare but also rode in a limousine and charged outrageous performance fees to impoverished orphans.
Beyond all of this, Baez is a genius songwriter and performer with a magical voice. She performed at each of the Big Sur Folk Festivals, beginning in 1964 and going until 1971. She still can occasionally be seen in the Carmel and Big Sur area. Ms. Baez, if you’re listening now - come on back. There’s a space at the Esalen baths with your name on it.
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Voices of EsalenBy the Esalen Institute

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