Interview
“Getting Bob Dylan was a huge
turning point in what we did. If
it had not happened, we would
have gone nowhere. There
might not have been a 1969
Festival, nor the 1970 Festival.”
perfect location at Wootton, and
the big name they targeted was
Bob Dylan. But he hadn’t worked
for three years after a motor
cycle accident, so there seemed
little chance of getting him.
“But we didn’t give up; we
persevered with his management,
persuaded him to come here,
even though bigger people
than us were chasing him,” said
Ray. “The big competitor we
didn’t know about was Michael
Lang, who was putting his
Woodstock Festival together.
Dylan lived in Woodstock and
knew Michael Lang, as did Dylan’s
manager Michael Grossman.
“Grossman wanted
Dylan to do Woodstock,
but the pair were falling
out and about to split
up. We were talking to
Grossman’s partner Bert
Block, who by then had
Dylan’s ear. Dylan was
furious at Grossman’s
demands that he must
play Woodstock. He
felt coming to the
Island was the perfect
way to get away from
Grossman and Woodstock. He
flew here the day Woodstock
began, but all this was falling into
place without us even knowing
about the saga, hence my
book title ‘Stealing Dylan
Jimi Hendrix
from Woodstock’. Getting
performing in 1970
Bob Dylan was a huge
turning point in what we
did. If it had not happened,
we would have gone
nowhere. There might not
have been a 1969 Festival,
nor the 1970 Festival.”
Thankfully, both festivals
did take place, putting
the Island at the forefront
of world festival events,
even though so much
happened by chance. Take
the winter of 1968-69
for example, when the
Foulks were promoting a
series of Saturday night
dances at the Manor
House Ballroom, Lake.
Ray said: “The Who were
booked for Saturday,
August 30th, 1969, costing us
£500. There was a clause in the
contract saying we could switch
them to our festival if it took
place, which was due two weeks
after Woodstock. So we had The
Who at Wootton after they had
appeared at Woodstock, and
they wanted more money or
withdraw. We had to double their
fee to keep them on board.”
The brothers organised the 1969
Festival from their mother’s house
in Totland, using her telephone to
book acts. An estimated 150,000
people converged on Wootton
from all over the world, not
only to see Dylan but The Who,
The Pretty Things, Joe Cocker,
and a host of other top names.
Among the onlookers were
Beatles John Lennon, George
Harrison and Ringo Starr, as well
as Eric Clapton, Elton John and
Rolling Stone Keith Richards.
Ray recalled: “It was funny that in
’68 the Melody Maker said Godshill
was ‘how not to do a festival’ but a
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