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When the World Came to the Isle of Wight #1
Stealing Dylan from Woodstock
Reclusive star Bob Dylan had been holed up in the artist-town of Woodstock for more than three years, following a serious motorcycle accident. He toyed with playing the Woodstock festival – brought to his own front door – but it was the Foulk brothers who succeeded where all others failed, luring Dylan 3,000 miles away from home to their Island, to create a Woodstock of his own.
Landing the music biz coup of the decade, the three Foulk brothers – a printer, an estate agent and an art student – became pioneers in pop promotion by signing for the world exclusive appearance of the reluctant ‘voice of his generation’.
For the organisers, short on experience, resources and time, the ensuing public response was almost overwhelming, and the challenge of delivering the most eagerly-awaited musical event of the era daunting. The world’s media covered the phenomena, gave the event global coverage and marked it as a suitable climax as the swinging sixties drew to a close.
The 1969 Isle of Wight Festival was Bob Dylan’s one and only full concert appearance in seven-and-a-half years and played its part in a highly transformative period of the artist’s life. Stealing Dylan from Woodstock tells, from a unique perspective, of an extraordinary event which seismically altered the lives of the author, his family, all those involved with it and many of those who attended.
Landing the music biz coup of the decade, the three Foulk brothers – a printer, an estate agent and an art student – became pioneers in pop promotion by signing for the world exclusive appearance of the reluctant ‘voice of his generation’.
For the organisers, short on experience, resources and time, the ensuing public response was almost overwhelming, and the challenge of delivering the most eagerly-awaited musical event of the era daunting. The world’s media covered the phenomena, gave the event global coverage and marked it as a suitable climax as the swinging sixties drew to a close.
The 1969 Isle of Wight Festival was Bob Dylan’s one and only full concert appearance in seven-and-a-half years and played its part in a highly transformative period of the artist’s life. Stealing Dylan from Woodstock tells, from a unique perspective, of an extraordinary event which seismically altered the lives of the author, his family, all those involved with it and many of those who attended.
- GenresMusic
312 pages, Hardcover
First published June 4, 2015
3 people are currently reading
43 people want to read
About the author
Ray Foulk
10 books2 followersRay Foulk, now based in Oxford, has fostered many passions since his early days as a promoter. After the dizzy heights of the Isle of Wight Festivals and stadium events in London, the Foulk brothers were head-hunted by the Milton Keynes Development Corporation to help plan the leisure content of their new city. Through this Ray brought the inventor/scientist/designer Buckminster Fuller, to the project, embraced his environmentalism, and eventually trained as an architect himself at the University of Cambridge. Combining design, education and promotion he spent much of the nineties and noughties as an environmental campaigner, and led the ambitious in-schools project, Blue Planet Day, rekindling the satisfaction, and more, that the festivals had brought to his youth. Recent years have been dominated by environmental architecture and writing.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
August 5, 2019
A very readable look at the 1969 Isle Of Wight Festival from one of principal organisers.
Very insightful with a plethora of great pictures. Dylan comes across as a decent chap, even if he got a bit short when his set was delayed. Townshend gets bonus points too.
Very insightful with a plethora of great pictures. Dylan comes across as a decent chap, even if he got a bit short when his set was delayed. Townshend gets bonus points too.
January 19, 2016
A great read, especially since I'm a big Dylan fan who attended the festival as a 16 year old. Well written and it brought back a lot of great memories. The book starts off with the history of the festival from it's inception in 68, which was headlined by Jefferson Airplane, to the 69 Dylan concert. The Foulk brothers stumble their way through seemingly insurmountable issues, from the bureaucratic and insular elders and politicians of the island to the financial and organisational aspects of getting supplies from the mainland for 150,000 people.
It seems to be a bit of a pipe dream that they could possibly lure the reclusive Dylan out of his Woodstock home, considering their youth and inexperience in the music business (they actually lied about their age to Bob's management team). Through much improvisation and creativity they manage to pull it off and the rest as they say is history.
The book goes through the complete festival line-up with lots of background information and tidbits about all the performers, including such stellar acts as The Who, Ritchie Havens, The Band, Joe Cocker, Moody Blues and Free. Also of particular interest is the visit of three of the Beatles, who stay with Bob and his wife at the farm they used during their stay on the island and also refutes a myth about an apparent super jam session between them.
The complete 17 song re-mastered recording of Dylan & The Band performing live at the Isle Of Wight was recently issued as part of the Bootleg Series Vol. 10, Another Self Portrait. It was fantastic being able to read the reviews of each song he performed, then listen to the actual recording. There are also many original photos, some of which I had not seen before and some photocopies of documents and notes that the brothers kept for all these years.
My only criticism of the book is the numerous typos and spelling mistakes, some of which could easily have been caught with the use of a simple spell checker. However, it still didn't detract from my enjoyment of the book. I'm looking forward to reading Vol. 2, about the 1970 festival, which was the final appearance at a major concert of the great Jimi Hendrix, who died a couple of weeks later.
A real page turner and a highly recommended history of one of the great music festivals of the 60's.
It seems to be a bit of a pipe dream that they could possibly lure the reclusive Dylan out of his Woodstock home, considering their youth and inexperience in the music business (they actually lied about their age to Bob's management team). Through much improvisation and creativity they manage to pull it off and the rest as they say is history.
The book goes through the complete festival line-up with lots of background information and tidbits about all the performers, including such stellar acts as The Who, Ritchie Havens, The Band, Joe Cocker, Moody Blues and Free. Also of particular interest is the visit of three of the Beatles, who stay with Bob and his wife at the farm they used during their stay on the island and also refutes a myth about an apparent super jam session between them.
The complete 17 song re-mastered recording of Dylan & The Band performing live at the Isle Of Wight was recently issued as part of the Bootleg Series Vol. 10, Another Self Portrait. It was fantastic being able to read the reviews of each song he performed, then listen to the actual recording. There are also many original photos, some of which I had not seen before and some photocopies of documents and notes that the brothers kept for all these years.
My only criticism of the book is the numerous typos and spelling mistakes, some of which could easily have been caught with the use of a simple spell checker. However, it still didn't detract from my enjoyment of the book. I'm looking forward to reading Vol. 2, about the 1970 festival, which was the final appearance at a major concert of the great Jimi Hendrix, who died a couple of weeks later.
A real page turner and a highly recommended history of one of the great music festivals of the 60's.
June 20, 2020
A bell I a good read. Wish I could have been there!
November 29, 2023
Still reading it ... but find the insights fascinating ... especially page 107.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews