I’m delighted to have Eliza Knight on the blog today. Eliza is an award-winning, USA Today and international bestselling author of dozens of novels. Her latest novel is Lost in the Summer of ‘69. As I get older, the definition of historical fiction keeps shifting and here we are with a time period when I was wearing miniskirts! Over to you, Eliza.
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The summer of 1969 in the United States was full of concerts from coast to coast, with musicians road-tripping from stage to stage, and fans following. Imagine a sundrenched stage, the twang and electric zing of a guitar, the thump of drums, and the crooning of legendary and up-and-coming artists. The air is scented with sunscreen, patchouli, and weed. The top rock n’ roll songs of that year were “Whole Lotta Love” by Led Zeppelin, “Come Together” by the Beatles, “Fortunate Son” by Credence Clearwater Revival, and “Honky Tonk Women” by the Rolling Stones, songs we can all still hear the lyrics too in our minds just by hearing the title alone.
The most notable concert of that summer was, of course, the Woodstock Music and Art Fair that took place in Bethel, New York in mid-August. Having expected about 50,000 attendees, the grounds and provisions were overwhelmed by nearly 500,000 people who jammed themselves onto Max Yasgar’s dairy farm to listen to bands like Santana, Janis Joplin and the Grateful Dead. But, while Woodstock is the most iconic and memorable concert of the summer, there were several others that drew heavy crowds and talented musicians.
In my novel, Lost in the Summer of ‘69, the characters first travel to California, to Newport Downs, just outside of Los Angeles in the San Fernando Valley, for the Newport Pop Festival which took place in June, and ended up being the first concert to kick off and set the tone for a rocking summer. The concert was set against the backdrop of the Santa Susana Mountains, while it lacked the cream pie fight from the year before, it featured highly acclaimed musicians, Ike and Tina Turner, Jimi Hendrix, Joe Cocker, Creedence Clearwater Revival and more.
A week later, at the Mile High Stadium in Colorado was the Denver Pop Festival. At the closing of the concert, the final act, Jimi Hendrix told his fans it was the last time they’d play together, and the next day, bassist Noel Redding quit the band. While the other concerts thus far had been free-loving and peaceful, the Denver Pop Festival got a bit rowdy with people breaching the fences which caused the police to throw tear gas into the crowds, creating stampedes. One attendee, 18-year-old Cassandra Peterson (best known as Elvira), was hit with a canister in the face resulting in a cut and chemical burns. She was patched up by a medic on sight and then sent out into the behind-the-scenes tents where serendipity paid a visit and she met Jimi Hendrix.
Over fourth of July weekend, musicians and fans descended on Atlanta for a festival at the Atlanta International Raceway in Hampton, Georgia. The concert was the first of its kind in the south, and even though it was strongly opposed by segregationist governor, Lester Maddox, it went off without a hitch, and the concert was extremely peaceful. Familiar bands like Janis Joplin, Led Zeppelin, Joe Cocker and Creedence Clearwater Revival played for their fans, and Grand Funk Railroad and Sweetwater started to gain traction with the crowd. The heat was so extreme that weekend that fire trucks hosed down festival goers.
Three weeks later, many of those same bands traveled to Washington state for the Seattle Pop Festival at Gold Creek Park. The festival featured the Doors, and a very drunk Jim Morrison, leaving a path wide open for Led Zeppelin to steal the show. Other notable singers on stage over the course of the three days were Chuck Berry, Alice Cooper, Ike and Tina Turner and Santana. Notably, Boyd Grafmyre decided against hiring police and off-duty officers as security for the concert and instead offered the job to the Black Panthers.
There was another concert that interested me when I was doing research for my book, and that was the New Orleans Pop Festival that happened toward the end of August, into September on Labor Day weekend. The timing didn’t work out for my story, but that doesn’t make it any less iconic. While it was called the New Orleans Pop Festival, it took place a little over sixty miles away in Prairieville. Beyond the familiar festival bands, the festival also featured Cajun fiddler Doug Kershaw, and New Orleans musicians, Dr. John, Deacon John and the Electric Soul, bringing local flavor to the rock concert.
One of my favorite parts about the music festivals is how many of the musicians traveled from coast to coast and inland to play for their fans. Oh, to have been a roadie during that epic summer! If you’re looking to listen to some of the music that took place during that summer, check out my playlist, Lost in the Summer of ’69 on Spotify, which is filled with songs that inspired the book.
Wow, Eliza. Talk about bringing back memories!! Many thanks for sharing the story of that iconic summer. And best wishes for Lost in the Summer of ’69!
Lost in the Summer of ’69 by Eliza Knight
Summer, 1969. Eleanor Bell, a widow, has always given everything she had to her family, forgoing her own dreams of becoming a singer. When she receives a diagnosis of early Alzheimer’s on the eve of her sixty-ninth birthday, she decides to go on an epic musical bucket-list trip to fulfill her dreams: A summer tour of festivals.
Except she forgets, maybe on purpose, to tell anyone where she’s going. Leanne Miller discovers her mother missing, and she enlists the help of her somewhat distant college-aged daughter, Nora, to help her find Eleanor. The last thing Nora wants to do before starting as one of Yale’s first female undergrads is to hit the road. But then Nora hears something strange on the radio—her grandmother’s voice. Nora and Leanne embark on a road trip in her husband’s Lincoln Continental from Atlanta, to California, Denver, Seattle, back to New York, and then New Orleans, always one step behind Eleanor, who has been dubbed the Dame of Rock n’ Roll by none other than Johnny Carson. It’s an epic celebration of savoring the encore no matter what the next act may bring.
You can find out more about Eliza Knight on her website. Eliza is a lifelong history obsessive whose love affair with the past began as a young girl when she traipsed the halls of Versailles. She is the creator of the popular historical blog, History Undressed, and host on the History, Books and Wine podcast. Her books have been translated into multiple languages, and most recently, her co-authored title A Day of Fire has been optioned for television. She also writes revenge fiction as Michelle Brandon.
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M.K. Tod writes historical fiction. Her latest novel THAT WAS THEN is a contemporary thriller. Mary’s other novels, THE ADMIRAL’S WIFE, PARIS IN RUINS, TIME AND REGRET, LIES TOLD IN SILENCE and UNRAVELLED are available from Amazon, Nook, Kobo, Google Play and iTunes. She can be contacted on Facebook or on her website www.mktod.com.
