These upbeat songs have surprisingly dark meanings
The 1970 Isle of Wight Festival was held between August 26 and 31 at Afton Down, an area near Freshwater on the western side of the Isle of Wight, in the south of England. This aerial view shows 120,000 music fans massed together on the afternoon of August 28.
It was the last of three consecutive music festivals to take place on the island between 1968 and 1970, and widely acknowledged as the largest musical gathering of its time, greater in fact than the attendance at Woodstock.
Pictured: the festival's tented area. An estimated 600,000, possibly 700,000, people attended the five-day festival.
Morning service on Sunday, August 30 at the festival site. Mass took place across the road from the main site in a quiet field. Confession time was a stroll across the field, and the altar was a table on the back of a farm trailer.
Accommodating so many people in such a small space proved a logistical nightmare.
Decades before the advent of the smartphone, festivalgoers line up to make phone calls outside a red public telephone box.
Music fans walk off the Lymington to Yarmouth ferry at Yarmouth Harbour on the Isle of Wight. They were heading for an open field rather than a concert venue.
Camping at East Afton Farm, near Freshwater. Catering facilities were primitive to say the least, and music fans had to make do with basic provisions.
Thousands descended upon the sleepy town of Freshwater, traditionally a haven for retirees and wealthy second home owners. Boy, were they in for a shock!
Ferries from the mainland serving the Isle of Wight were packed with hundreds of passengers. Most were on foot, but some had two-wheel transportation.
Music fans surrounded by sacks full of empty cans. The bags read: "Pop litter in here," a simple request to dispose of garbage properly.
The banner reads "10 Downing Street," a reference to the British prime minister's official London address. Made of straw bales, the encampment pictured was dubbed "Desolation Row."
Jimi Hendrix performed in the early hours of August 31, using a black Fender Stratocaster guitar. It was his last billed appearance. A little over two weeks later, he died in London on September 18 from barbiturate-related asphyxia. He was just 27.
Jazz legend Miles Davis thrilled fans with his crossover style of play that imitated Hendrix's guitar licks with those of fellow festival headliners Sly and the Family Stone.
British band The Who ignited the evening of Saturday, August 29, with hits that included 'Substitute,' 'My Generation,' and 'I Can’t Explain" bookending a full performance of 'Tommy.' Most agree that their set was an explosive triumph. Neither The Doors nor Emerson, Lake & Palmer wanted to follow such a turbulent performance.
Leonard Cohen, backed by his band the Army, performed on August 30. One of the highlights of his set was 'Suzanne.'
Chicago (keyboard player Robert Lamm, trombone player Jimmy Pankow, trumpet player Lee Loughnane, saxophonist Walter Parazaider, drummer Danny Seraphine, bassist Peter Cetera, and guitarist Terry Kath) played on Friday evening.
Scottish singer Donovan was known for 'Sunshine Superman' and 'Mellow Yellow.' He performed an acoustic set, and then an electric set with his band Open Road on Sunday, August 30.
Music fans lining up at a makeshift police tent. The police report regarding organization and crowd conduct was glowing.
A crowd of youths, many of them naked, on the beach near Freshwater during the festival. In many trips to the seaside between gigs, clothing was optional.
Joni Mitchell's set on Saturday, August 29 was interrupted by a fan who climbed on stage to make a speech about the people at the festival living on Desolation Row.
Pictured: bemused locals stare at what was termed a "hippie invasion" as thousands of youngsters descended upon the Isle of Wight. The flower power generation was gathering for one last blowout.
Controversy and commercial failings meant the 1970 Isle of White Festival was the last event of its kind on the island for 32 years. But it set the tone for UK festival culture and spawned future major camping festivals like Glastonbury and Reading.
English folk musician Ralph McTell played to an appreciative audience on the afternoon of Sunday, August 30. He is known for his signature hit 'Streets of London,' which highlights the plight of the homeless, lonely, elderly, ignored, and forgotten members of society.
On the other hand, at one point on Sunday festival MC Rikki Farr went into meltdown as he berated gatecrashers who'd broken down perimeter walls and had stormed the site without paying the entry fee.
American folk singer and activist Joan Baez was well received by festivalgoers on the Sunday, although some sections of the audience actually booed her performance. Her set included a cover of the Beatles' 'Let it Be.'
Two female festivalgoers sit underneath a signpost as they try to thumb a lift home after attending the festival.
During his Friday evening set, rock and blues singer Tony Joe White regaled the audience with 'Polk Salad Annie,' his 1969 hit that had recently been recorded by Elvis Presley. Years later, White came up with 'Steamy Windows,' which Tina Turner recorded in 1989.
The 1970 Isle of Wight Festival took place 54 years ago, held between August 26 and 31 at Afton Down on the Isle of Wight off the coast of southern England. Drawing top acts of the day including Jimi Hendrix, The Doors, Miles Davis, Kris Kristofferson, and The Who, the event, which was bigger than Woodstock in terms of attendance figures, came to mark one last blowout for the flower power generation. But is also set the blueprint for UK festival culture and major camping festivals like Glastonbury.
Feeling nostalgic? Click through the following gallery and relive the music and counterculture brilliance that was the 1970 Isle of White Festival.
Pictured: Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull. The band took to the stage on the evening of Sunday, August 30, but had earlier entertained the crowd with a rehearsal and sound check.
Remembering the 1970 Isle of Wight Festival
How a music festival in southern England became bigger than Woodstock
MUSIC Concerts
The 1970 Isle of Wight Festival took place 54 years ago, held between August 26 and 31 at Afton Down on the Isle of Wight off the coast of southern England. Drawing top acts of the day including Jimi Hendrix, The Doors, Miles Davis, Kris Kristofferson, and The Who, the event, which was bigger than Woodstock in terms of attendance figures, came to mark one last blowout for the flower power generation. But is also set the blueprint for UK festival culture and major camping festivals like Glastonbury.
Feeling nostalgic? Click through the following gallery and relive the music and counterculture brilliance that was the 1970 Isle of White Festival.