Very vague memories here of drugs handed back and forth from stage to audience. Delaney and Bonnie and ABB may also have played but somehow I missed them. The day after that the promoter, Alex Cooley (who incidentally lived directly across from the park), brought back Spirit and Sweet Water to play for free in the park. I remember a great Led Zeppelin set as well as a wonderful palate cleanser from Dave Brubeck. As we entered the arena that day Janis Joplin (missed seeing her, she had played the previous day) was introducing her friends in a different band, It’s A Beautiful Day. No photos from me that day, I was sort of out of commission on psychedelics.Įarlier that summer had been the 1st Atlanta Pop Festival, two days in a huge dirt parking lot outside the city. A roommate had his picture in Time magazine being pulled by his hair by a cop. In late ‘69 an undercover cop making a pot bust near the bandstand caused a pretty nasty riot, landing us on the national news. Warm Sunday’s in Piedmont Park often had live music. I have vague memories of Little Feat in the early years playing there. The 12th Gate coffeehouse broadened from folk to electric. Young bands plugged in from neighboring stores to play vacant lots. It was the South’s Summer of Love two years after Haight-Ashbury. There was plenty to shoot, especially nights when the slow parades of cars from the suburbs drove past kids who wanted to be seen as shocking. I was a street photographer as young people were pouring into Atlanta, living on the street or in the old decrepit mansions nearby. My SLR was traded in for a fancier Leica. Eventually outside jobs with real paychecks came along. Outdated photo supplies somehow had to be paid for too. Photo by Carter TomassiĪt first I survived by selling the Bird on street corners, earning $25/wk. Somehow these good folks found it in their hearts to accept me. knowing next to zero about politics beyond what the Today Show reported. It was a weekly was run by whoever showed up to put in long hours for zero pay, that meant far left types, people who considered “liberal” a grievous insult. The Great Speckled Bird, the hippie community weekly paper, was getting a lot of attention when I left school, heading for Atlanta. I had considered adding my questions to this piece but it would only detract from what he has so eloquently expressed below. What you see below is a beautifully written piece about his experiences. After our phone conversation, I sent him a number of questions. He was wonderfully accommodating throughout the purchase and said that he’d be more than happy to answer any questions I had. In my ever expanding hunt for all things Allman Brothers related, I purchased a Carter Tomassi print a year or so ago and mentioned that I would love to interview him about his photographs.
0 kommentar(er)
