If you’re a VB Forum user you might remember that some time ago, Jon Blake asked others for their memories of the 1969 Isle of Wight Festival.
That was way back in July 2009 and today sees the publication of Jon Blake’s book, 69ers: A Novel About the 1969 Isle of Wight Festival of Music.
Jon is a Cardiff-based writer who was brought up in Southampton. His Dad had a fridge shop in Ryde (Wessex Equipment) and was the electrical contractor for the 1969 Isle of Wight Festival.
Being a teenager at the time, Jon was keen to go along to the festival and although he managed to see quite a bit of life backstage, he missed out what the other 150,000 revellers enjoyed.
A new book and detailed online archive
He’s been working on the book and an excellent archive website, 69ers for sometime and today sees the official launch take place in Cardiff.
If you’re interested, you can buy the book on Amazon. It’s keenly priced at just £3.99 as John is not doing this to make huge amounts of money.
He says, “I just want it to be read, and for people to engage with the discussions of music, culture and politics within it.”
An extract of the book
If you’re wondering what the book will be like, here’s a small extract
Matt White was a big man with a respectable mane of hair, wearing an unironed shirt and trousers without flares. Unlike his brother Frank, he was a reliable worker, easygoing, not so fond of the bottle. He and Frank had their own business, mainly house wiring, but Matt was happy to work for the bigger contractors when the jobs came along. Croker paid ok and took all the flak if anything went wrong, which suited Matt fine.
It didn’t bother Matt too much when Scott was introduced as his new help. He was obviously wet behind the ears with less nous than a louse, but Matt was a patient man, pleased to have some new company and a second pair of hands to help hump the coils of cable. They spent an easy enough morning rigging catenaries across the toilet tents, then repaired to Croker’s caravan for a cup of tea. There, without the fluorescents and the cable clips between them, there was no obvious common ground, and an embarrassed silence ensued.
“Did you know Bob Dylan was an electrician?” Scott eventually asked.
“Bob Dylan?” replied Matt. “Who’s he?”
It was not a promising start to the conversation.
“You know” explained Scott. “Bob Dylan, who’s headlining the festival”
Matt looked confused. “He’s working with us?” he asked.
“No, no” replied Scott. “He used to work as an electrician. And his dad sold fridges”
Matt nodded. “Croker’s got a fridge shop up on Swanmore Road” he remarked.
There was another silence.
“Have you really never heard of Bob Dylan?” asked Scott.
“What does he sing?” asked Matt.
“Blowing in the Wind” replied Scott.
“I’ve got you” replied Matt. “The protest singer”
“He’s not just a protest singer” protested Scott.
Matt nodded. “Little yiddish feller” he said.
Scott’s discomfort grew. “He is Jewish” he confirmed, ignoring the unsound epithet. “He doesn’t practice though”
“Maybe that’s why he sings so bad” replied Matt, taking a sip of tea.
Scott smiled, but only to be sociable. The situation was now sufficiently awkward for Scott to be planning exit routes, but it was about to get worse.
“Showbusiness is full of yids” commented Matt.
Scott wondered if he was being deliberately tested, in the way that racialists sometimes would – or did Matt live in a world where this kind of talk was considered perfectly normal? The Isle of Wight was a bit of a backwater, after all.
“I wouldn’t call what Dylan does ‘showbusiness'” Scott eventually replied.
“It’s all showbusiness” said Matt.“Not like Sunday Night at the London Palladium” replied Scott.
Matt gestured around at the half-built arena. “This is a show, isn’t it?” he commented.
Scott viewed the lighting tower, the piles of PA speakers being assembled on the stage, and was lost for an answer.“We always call it a show” continued Matt. “Ryde Town Hall. . .Island Industries Fair. . .”
“I’ve been to that” blurted Scott, thankful at last to find some common ground.
“Bob Dylan” muttered Matt, for no obvious reason, cutting off Scott’s new line of approach and initiating another awkward silence.
“He’s got a new album out” said Scott, eventually.
“Album?” queried Matt.
“LP” explained Scott.
“Oh, right” replied Matt. “Good, is it?”
“Not his best” said Scott.
“You don’t think so?” asked Matt, without curiosity.
“It’s country and western” replied Scott. “A bit of a departure for Dylan”
Matt nodded, took several sips of his tea, then casually lifted a pair of wire cutters. Between the blades was a neat round hole. “Look at that” he said. “Went through a live one yesterday”
Scott winced inwardly. Matt lowered the cutters and took several more sips of his tea. “I wouldn’t say it was a departure” he commented.
“Sorry?” replied Scott.
“Everyone thinks Dylan got everything from Woody Guthrie” said Matt. “But there’s a lot of Hank Williams in there too”
