[Snowbrushy]

In 1971 this was one of the many outdoor music festivals that as a teenager I attended. Of course, we had told our parents that we were going backpacking. What they didn't know wouldn't hurt them we figured - there was some rain and mud and great music. The Satsop River Music Festival will happen again after almost 40 years, except no mud. http://www.thedailyworld.com/articles/2010/04/13/local_news/doc4bc4b1444bdd6948131567.txt

[strider]

You mean the Satsop River Fair & Tin Cup Races? Goood times.....

[sams rapids]

I was there. How cool was it to skinny dip with 500 other people. Far out. The music was real fine. Of course, I barely remember anything. Maybe all this attention will bring out all the tapes that were made. Real old time rock festivals had a very short life, too much trouble for the man. They quickly outlawed the people's festivals so only the very organised, money makers could be staged. Lets have another piano drop in Duvall. Far out, man.

[Snowbrushy]

I forget exactly why they were outlawed. The Vortex festival in Oregon was memorable not so much for the music but for a feeling of good will, skinny dipping, and a sort of civic pride. We were originally going to riot in Portland against the war. But. We got naked and high instead. I got there early and helped build the stage. Rumors would float around about big name bands that were going to come and play but they never did. Still, the music was fine, the weather was perfect, and the Oregon girls were very sweet and often times very naked. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vortex_I "...bivouac and disco party.…There was a lot of pot smoking and skinny dipping but nobody was killed."

[don b]

Yeah man, the piano drop. Loved it.

[Snowbrushy]

Quicksilver Messenger Service will be there. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Happy_Trails_(album) This band is very special. The band was a big part of West Coast rock (The San Francisco Sound). Eric Burton was just a tourist in the Bay Area (San Francisco Nights), and Randy Hanson was only a kid in 1968. With all respect, Quicksilver Messenger Service had an historic West Coast sound. With an album named, Happy Trails. If you like rock history you should see Quicksilver. And, you thought that Pearl Jam had a cool name for a rock band..

[naturealbeing]

"Quicksilver Messenger Service" got a constant rotation on our phonograph player in ceramics class, at Ballard High, back in the early 70's. Mr. Shamanski was our teacher at the time and I can still hear him saying smokeee dopeee, fly like super man. Thanks for the memories, Snowbrushy.

[Malachai Constant]

April 20 is an appropriate day to remember Satsop

[sams rapids]

Maybe they'll try to drive a watermelon truck through the crowd. Does anyone remember all the motorcycles that showed up at about midnight?

[Snowbrushy]

I remember the bikers I think. I was wandering around from camp to camp until a hippy woman took me in. She was older (25y/o) and she wore beads, long paisley skirt, and she smelled like a mystery. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patchouli_oil I was in an acid induced dream trying to forget about my brothers who were dieing in a faraway jungle. That woman - I cloug to her in a fetal position all night long. It wasn't about sex. Somewhere I remember the bikers. They were the farthest thing from my mind. Patchouli oil and incense underwent a surge in popularity in the 1960s and 1970s in the US and Europe, mainly due to the hippie movement of those decades.

[WhistlerAl]

Hey, Thanks for this. I have been trying to find info on this festival, but couldn't remember anything( don't know why ???) except the tin cup races . My cousin and I drove up from San Fran for this in my pickup and camper. I was dealing a bit then, and hung a sheet off the side of my camper that said Pot Hash and Acid for sale, when we were in the festival camping site. I remember sitting in the field in front of the stage when the truck drove up in front of the stage with an open trailer full of watermelons. Someone on stage said jokingly, Hey man, free watermelons. Kids climbed up and started throwing all of the watermelons to everyone in the field. The truck driver freaked, and drove straight across the field through the crowd. We were pretty ripped, but had sense enough to get out of his way, and pull a few other people out of the way too. I can still see him going through the gears , picking up speed, and veering off the field onto the muddy road, almost tipping over then. When he came to the 90% turn , he didn't even try to make the corner, but went straight ahead , crashing into the forest. I can't remember if anyone got hurt, but I know he drove right over a few tents that were in the field. Ah yes, the good old days. Was anyone else there that remembers this?

[GeoHiker]

Here's an excellent historical link with pics and lots a info. on the history of the Sky River Rock Festival. Michael Pellegrini that maintains this site has a e-book down (a story based on SR 3) below that's a good read. I was 11 and spent my summers at Cedar Ponds when the 1st Sky River went off in 68. We had to drive through the only road to the Festival grounds and it took us hours to go the 6 miles. I can still hear my friends mom screaming to cover our eyes as the crowds of naked men/women filed past the vehicle on the way to Youngs Creek. Of course I covered my eyes the entire time.....

[Get Out and Go]

We hit up Vortex one of the days from Milwaukie (Oregon, that is ...Portland suburb), in my Corvair, no less. Probably powered by Pagan Pink Ripple and unsafe at any speed, anyway. Whoa...Quicksilver Messenger Service, you say.....Let me put on some White Bird - It's a Beautiful Day, PG&E, and Youngbloods. Intentions of making it to Satsop never panned out. Hey, we all survived.

[Joebuzz]

Greetings All. I too was at Satsop. Thumbed up to Oregon with a friend that lived there and drove all night to get to Satsop. We were short on funds and actually sneaked in, like in a dumb movie, running along side an ambulance that was headed for an OD. The Hells Angels built the tree houses to the left of the stage. They though they were gods looking down on their minions. The guy with the water melons pulled in front of the stage while a band was playing and started honking his horn to get people to come buy melons for $4 apiece. The stakebed got overrun and people started tossing melons to the crowd. The driver got pissed and started driving through the crowd and actually ran over people sleeping in their tent. I think he sent 4 to the hospital. Some guy jumped on the side of the tractor and started stabbing him until he stopped. I guess you could say...dead in his tracks. The last day, the sun came out at sunrise and a band, I thought it was "Beautiful Day" started playing the first song of the day which was "Good Day Sunshine" by the Beatles. Still having a large head swollen from acid, it just made my day.

[Olygirl]

I missed the new Satsop River Festival, but I was at the 1971 original. I was asked that Saturday to help in the medical tent, which was a huge army tent. I clearly remember some odd stuff. At one point the only doctor there was a veterinarian but he was really good with people. Bum trips and all. We saw a guy with whom I stayed for many long, long, long hours. He overdosed on smack and I had to beat on his chest many times to get him to breathe! I loved being in the river naked, swam even. You refer to it as a fesrival, but it was, in 1971, always called The Satsop River Fair and Tin Cup Races. It was sure wet and muddy. Loved it. Eric Burdon Eric Clapton great!