In 1969 the Grateful Dead sensed trouble when they flew to a derelict speedway track in California for a free concert. They got back on their plane and left without playing a note.
Their fears were well placed. Altamont became the most infamous Rolling Stones performance and shorthand for the end of the sixties. Four people died as 300,000 attended a chaotic, dark, event, tarnished by murder and bad drugs. An 18-year-old man was stabbed to death close to the stage.
Three years later, 'The Dead' - by now a major band - flew into the UK for another concert - and this time they stayed, and played. It was in fields next to a Lancashire coal mine.
The San Francisco band were at a creative peak and their live shows were legendary for improvisation. They were much more than self indulgent jam experts for stoned hippies. They had transformed from a 1960s jug band to garage-blues rockers yet reflected and covered all of America's indigenous music - folk, jazz, bluegrass, country, and rock n roll.
Their fanbase was colossal. Yet they appeared in a rain-drenched meadow in the pit village of Bickershaw, near Wigan. And they were not the only big names to take to the same stage during a three day festival from May 5, 1972.
Also performing were the most British of rockers, The Kinks. In the 1960s they had a raft of aggressive singles, like "You Really Got Me"; "Till the End of the Day"- plus reflective gems like "Waterloo Sunset". Their success had continued into the next decade with 1970's "Lola" and "Ape Man". On the first day of the Bickershaw concert they had released "Supersonic Rocket Ship," which made number 16 in the charts.
American singer/songwriter, Captain Beefheart, who had a cult following, Hawkwind who would release their most famous song, "Silver Machine," a month after the concert, Scottish folk rock star, Donovan, Country Joe McDonald, Family, and The Flamin Groovies were also on the bill. How were such huge acts lured to what would be dubbed "The Wigan Woodstock"?
A new edition of a book, marking the 50th anniversary of the festival, has been written by Chris Hewitt. He was 16 at the time of the festival - but already a veteran at organising gigs - when he was asked by Jeremy Beadle, later of TV prankster fame, to work for him.
Chris said: "I had been asked to leave Hulme Grammar School, Oldham, for growing my hair too long and listening to records in fifth form common room. I was a couple of years above Andy Kershaw, another Rochdale lad with similar attitude. So I had moved to Rochdale College to do A levels but became Social Secretary of the Students Union whilst promoting gigs there.
"My first year gig promotions included, Screaming Warthog, The Strawbs, Pink Fairies, Skin Alley, and Brinsley Schwarz."
The Bickershaw Festival Company had set up offices at an antiques warehouse in Rennie Street, Salford. But when one of the main organisers was jailed Chris and other student union officers received a "panic" call from Beadle asking if they could help. Chris sold tickets, gave out flyers, and put up posters.
"Jeremy Beadle, along with Harry 'The Count' Cohen- a Wigan Market trader who dressed as a count - were the two main organisers after a third was convicted of tax fraud two months before the festival.
"Jeremy was able to talk some of the major artists to come to a Lancashire pit village because he was a convincing person - also the London underground counter culture IT, Oz, Frendz, Time Out magazines, and the people promoting Sunday gigs at The Roundhouse in London were all involved and most of the local, regional, and national press and media," Chris said.
"I didn’t take photos at the time but started a cuttings archive about the event which I have expanded for 50 years, including collecting lots of photographs of the event."
The invasion of the pit village, which had a population of 1,500 at the time, triggered resentment, curiosity, and bemused indifference from locals. James Walford, a 70-year-old retired miner, told the Manchester Evening News: "Let em come. It's nowt out of my pocket. I'm just a bit worried about sanitation. I hope it won't go into the lodge over there. We've just stocked it with 20,000 fish."
One abiding memory for Chris was the weather. "Rain, mud, mixed with coal waste, drainage ditches and subsidence ponds but a great gathering of 100,000 hippies and locals and 45,000 camping.
"Donovan in the sunshine breaking through the rain on Saturday afternoon, likewise the Incredible String Band in the sun on Saturday, Hawkwind in the dark on Friday night, Country Joe getting the crowd to chant Nixon Out!
"Captain Beefheart's amazing set late at night; The Kinks with a drunken Ray Davis, Cheech and Chong hippie comedians, on the Sunday, fantastic sets in the sunshine from Haydock Brass Brand , Brinsley Schwarz, New Riders of The Purple Sage and then four hours from the Grateful Dead."
Ironically, as leaders of the counter culture, The Grateful Dead made one unrealistic demand. "The Grateful Dead requested a massive amount of airline tickets for their band and crew and flying in all their equipment. But everybody mucked in and you could pretty much go backstage and talk to Jerry Garcia from the Grateful Dead sat in the back of their truck or Captain Beefheart sat in his little caravan."
Beadle had worked for months to make the festival a reality. He had been recruited by Cohen who had taken ownership of the Forester Arms at 509 Bickershaw Lane, Bickershaw. Behind the pub were fields, attached to Naylor's Farm, which he decided would be ideal for a festival. On the third day of the festival, local residents, who had been initially hostile to the event, were allowed in free of charge.
Chris recalls it created the surreal sight of 'spaced out' hippies alongside pit men from Wigan and Leigh with their wives in their Sunday best. The local chippie made a killing - fish and chips went up in price from three to twelve shillings. But Harry Cohen made no profit - with all the takings going on artist's fees, and many sneaking into the festival without paying.
Yet Chris believes the festival was not only an astonishing achievement which deserves a mention rock history, but was inspired future talent, with a 19-year-old Joe Strummer, of The Clash, and a 17-year-old Elvis Costello, amongst those in the audience. At Altamont Hells Angels, hired as security, were blamed for the violence. But at Bickershaw their presence was as music fans.
In his book he writes: "To think that Jeremy had a gargantuan commitment to pay artists and site contractors and was faced with his main financier/businessman with money (or supposedly with money) going to jail with three weeks to go to the festival, it is testimony to Jeremy’s amazing ability and self belief that the event was such an artistic success, given the weather and the underlying financial problems."
Beadle later said he could have booked T Rex and The Faces, the biggest bands in the UK at the time - but was worried about the kind of audience they might attract, so pursued the American "progressive" rock bands which it was expected would attract a more "mature and intelligent" crowd.
Chris said: "It was very influential. Beadle had seen Woodstock The Movie and wanted to create something similar. As a result we saw the Deeply Vale Festivals in Rochdale in 76-78, with 20,000 people in 1978 to see Steve Hillage and The Fall and The Ruts."
"For the North West it was most significant- probably never such an eclectic line up was ever seen again in the 70s or ever- they tried to emulate it for five days at Deeply Vale in 1978 with around 50 bands over five days. It set me off on a music industry career for 50 years, Bob Fisher from Middleton was social secretary at Oldham College and helped his dad sell sandwiches at Bickershaw. Bob later became manager of The Mock Turtles."
For Chris it opened doors. "I installed the sound system at the Hacienda, did most of the PA systems for gigs at the Electric Circus including Joy Division, staging and sound for the Rock Against Racism Buzzcocks concert to 40,000 in Manchester’s Alexandra Park, did the sound system for Motorhead's first tour and rescued Lemmy from a broken down Ford Transit at Knutsford Services."
He also worked with Ian Dury, The Adverts and The Lurkers, and did stage work building podiums for HM the Queen and Royal Family visits. His expertise has been called on for recent rock films, Bohemian Rhapsody and Rocket Man; plus a Sex Pistols documentary.
"I now have one of the worlds biggest collections of vintage musical equipment and musical electronics - CHvintageaudio.uk - so I have become the go to person for film companies or TV doing anything to do with rock music," Chris said. "For the Pistols TV series I had to re create different gear for about 12 different gigs through their career so each PA system had to be different."
But it all started at Bickershaw. Chris writes :"Over three days, it is estimated that about 60,000 attended the event and Jeremy Beadle said they took around £60,000 in gate receipts. As the tickets were priced at £2.25 each, even allowing for the traditional attendance exaggeration, it’s clear that a lot of people didn’t pay their way in.
"People were coming in, getting a pass-out, and then flogging their ticket back to someone else for a knock-down price. Worse still, the event cost £120,000 to put on. They should have paid more attention in maths class. The blokes doing the gate were the usual 'wolf in charge of the sheep pen' chancers, reselling tickets back to people, trousering takings – and all done with not so much a smile, more the threat of a busted head.
"But there were just 32 drugs arrests, a few drunk and disorderlies and 18 Hell’s Angels nicked for breach of the peace outside. The weather was disgusting, and the site, in all honesty, was simply unsuitable. Nonetheless, Bickershaw was great for the region.
The book, full of of wonderful images from the festival, also includes a quote form an unnamed attendee which captures the event perfectly: “Bickershaw is not an exotic name. If it conjures up images of a Lancastrian mining village with one street and a pub – spot on. But for three days in 1972 Bickershaw was an event. A northern festival with northern attitude. Unique- Coronation Street invaded by the freaks."
The book Bickershaw Festival - 50 Year Anniversary, is published by Dandelion Records. Visit here
