50th Anniversary - Fantasy Fair and Magic Mountain Music Festival

My local public radio station (WXPN in Philly) is having their first Throwback Thursday today, highlighting the year 1967 (wish I knew why, lol!)

On my drive to work, they played a few songs by artists that appeared at the Fantasy Fair and Magic Mountain Music Festival. I never heard of it before, and looked it up in work. Turns out it is considered the first, or one of the first, rock festivals!

Did anyone here attend? Anyone have photos or memories? This is something I'm getting interested in, since it's the predecessor to Monterey (by a week) and doesn't seem to have gotten much attention over time!

 

Here's a nice article about Magic Mt. It includes recollections by band members and concert-goers.

The Untold Story of the First U.S. Rock Festival: The Fantasy Fair & Magic Mountain Music Fest - Rolling Stone

 

Is there a set list available for that festival?

 

I'm interesting in this festival since it is the first known rock festival though some other gatherings had taken place earlier that were smaller. Seems like this always gets forgotten so I hope some media do some articles on it for the 50th anniversary. I bet a lot of people would finally learn about it. Who did they play on the radio show?

 

The festival underscores what an important role radio played in culture back then, as it was organized by the Bay Area Top 40 station KFRC.

 

There weren't any live clips from the festival, but they played a song each by The Byrds, The Doors and Tim Buckley. They spoke briefly about the festival, mentioning KFRC, and named some of the other artists who played. It was enough to get me interested in finding out more!

 

I'm not sure why this festival is so obscure. Even people here who are die-hard 60's and 70's fans don't seem to know and/or care about it. There are major names here and it's the very first rock festival. I know Monterey is great and I'm doing a thread on it now, but I was going to mention this one around the anniversary on June 10 and 11. I guess without a physical release it's just a moment in time that sits in 1967 without advancing. Also, there's another festival with a similar name that might be confusing. Perhaps there will be more feedback here once a few articles come out on the anniversary. I'm not even expecting too much from the media, but something will pop up.

 

This is the lineup for the Fantasy Faire and Magic Mountain Festival. While there are a lot of 60's names here that stayed big only in the 60's, some are still well known to this day....

Saturday, June 10

• The Charlatans
• Mount Rushmore
• Rodger Collins
• Dionne Warwick
• The Doors
• The Lamp of Childhood
• Canned Heat
• Jim Kweskin Jug Band
• Spanky and Our Gang
• Blackburn & Snow
• The Sparrow
• Every Mother's Son
• Kaleidoscope
• The Chocolate Watchband
• The Mojo Men
• The Merry-Go-Round

Sunday, June 11

• Sons of Champlin
• Jefferson Airplane
• The Byrds w/ Hugh Masekela
• P. F. Sloan
• Captain Beefheart & the Magic Band
• The Seeds
• The Grass Roots
• The Loading Zone
• Tim Buckley
• Every Mother's Son
• Steve Miller Blues Band
• Country Joe and the Fish
• The 5th Dimension
• The Lamp of Childhood
• The Mystery Trend
• Penny Nichols
• The Merry-Go-Round
• New Salvation Army Band

 

Found something on YouTube that has some film from the festival!


It's fun seeing how some people are dressed as if it's still the 1950's!

 

Some are obscure, quite a few are on the Love is the Song We Sing box set. This looks to have been quite a nice festival! I guess Monterey happening soon after is why it's so obscure?

 

Yes, aware of this important festival, the Rolling a Stone article and more is featured in a recent and ongoing thread, join us here:

A Psychedelic Trip! The 50th Anniversary Summer Of Love Thread.

 

Thank you! I'll stop by!