The Last Great Event: With Jimi Hendrix and Jim Morrison

When the World Came to the Isle of Wight #2

by Caroline Foulk, Caroline Foulk

The Isle of Wight Festival in 1969 famously tempted Bob Dylan out of retreat, becoming at once launchpad and gold standard for all rock festivals. The question was how to follow it?

Remarkably, in 1970 the Isle of Wight would host one of the greatest music gatherings of all time. The dazzling constellation of stars included Jimi Hendrix, Miles Davis, the Who, Joan Baez, Richie Havens, Joni Mitchell, Procol Harum, the Doors, Leonard Cohen, Emerson Lake and Palmer, and the Moody Blues. This was Europe’s Woodstock – and all on a small island off England’s south coast.

Many remember the Isle of Wight Festival of 1970 as a magical, life-changing experience, the ultimate sixties trip of sex, drugs, rock’n’roll and a yearning for a better world. Yet for others the question remains: Did the festival help precipitate the end of the dream of an alternative society? Or did it merely reflect changes already taking place?

This most controversial of festivals was aptly promoted by the organisers themselves as “The Last Great Event”.

Genres: Music

376 pages, Hardcover

First published June 4, 2016

About the author

I have a passion for poetry, painting and writing and originally trained as a teacher to support my creative pursuits. My lessons/workshops have on occasions been a hit with spirited teenagers. I am a playwright too with a longstanding creative partnership with my father Ray Foulk, co-author of Picasso's Revenge. We have worked together on projects in art, environment, education and architecture. Our focus on writing in recent years has covered historical accounts of the Isle of Wight festivals (Ray was the original organiser). More recently we have taken the unusual and formidable task of writing the Picasso novel together. I was born on the Isle of Wight. I am a mother of three and live in Oxford with my husband, musician Johnny Hinkes.

Reviews

[Martin Castle · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great story about as it says a unique last event. It reads like an expanded diary with loads of anecdotes and stories within the main event. It puts it into perspective as to what an achievement it was from a group of people who were so young!!

[David Slater · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful memories - but a few unanswered questions.