The meadow.© Rosie McGee

I was on the Caravan across America for about three weeks, with a flight to England I thought of as the prize at the other end. After a couple of days in London, we went on to Canterbury for the final concert and the end of the Caravan.

When we arrived early that day at the Canterbury concert site, a beautiful country estate known as Charlton Park, we saw a lovely, sloping green that could hold about 1,500 people, surrounded by classic English oaks and other massive old trees. After the weeks of driving through the hot, dusty American desert and eating badly if at all, we couldn’t believe how lush, inviting and civilized this all looked. By late afternoon, there was a completed stage, sleeping tents and a large hospitality tent with a wonderful meal served to us by the Hog Farm.

For my money, the concert that evening, along with B.B. King in Placitas, was the musical highlight of the entire Caravan, a perfect concert featuring Pink Floyd, the Faces with Rod Stewart, Mott the Hoople, some local bands and of course, Stoneground, who had just acquired Pete Sears as a new bass player.

It’s a crying shame the footage and soundtrack never saw the light of day. It was a privilege to be among that relatively small audience listening to those great bands through the quadraphonic sound system that had been cobbled together by the American Alembic crew and the English crew working at the site. A great memory !

Rosie McGee

Rosie is a long time Bay Area photographer who was a member of the extended Grateful Dead family for many years . She is now writing her memoirs and has a lovely site that is well worth a visit.

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I was delighted to find your site about the Medicine ball concert in Canterbury. Living locally we all went along mainly because Canterbury band Caravan were due to play. I believe Pink Floyd have said its one of the best gigs they ever played. I remember being at the front of a small crowd watching Floyd do a brilliant version of Careful with that Axe. All this was being filmed and I think it was one of the Warner Brothers sons was pacing up and down saying ‘fantastic...fantastic’ The big surprise was The Faces. They stumbled on stage dressed in their purple velvet suits. I think Rod Stewarts suit was white velvet. Within ten minutes they tore the place apart with a truly brilliant set.

A few other things I remember was the stage backdrop which was made to look like flames and that the audience were treated like film extras and we were paid with bags of grass. If only someone could find the original footage.
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Harry Barlow

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I remember this happening well, we were living in Canterbury,at the time making music in our garden off Canterbury High Street, when some people came in and invited us to the estate where this was happening, I believe it was called Bishopstone, a beautiful part of Kentish countryside. We got there and camped there for the few days leading up to the festival.

There were tepis and some of the most amazing characters I have ever met the atmosphere was charged with a very special air the Hog farmers especially Wavy Gravy were inspirational, he was dressed in a white boiler suit with a brace on his front teeth of the colours of the rainbow.

One of those days we all piled into a lorry and drove to Whitstable for the day, they did not believe what had hit them the counter culture like aliens from out of space it was hilarious.

The festival was stunning, Pink Floyd were arson and then some.

Stoneground stayed behind and played some local gigs one which I saw at Bridge country club, they were very good too!

Happy memories John Vickers

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I’ve been wondering if any evidence of this very weird festival ever existed. I remember finding out about the festival on John Peels radio show. My mate and I plus various other colleagues, one, a very beautiful college friend of mine rocked on down in an ancient Peugeot 301 to just outside Canterbury, near a very small hamlet. Things I vaguely remember (can anyone verify). Approaching the sight sign saying “no hard drugs or weapons on sight”. Wavey gravey also in attendance. One quote “we will soon be flying food for you guys!” Al Stewart performed. Small pub not far from sight Richard Chamberlain, Doctor Kildare, seen outside. Heavy duty filming going on, the director seemed to linger on my very beautiful college friend.

Paul Waters
Now feeling very old!

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The gig in England was in Charleton Park, outside of Canterbury, and featured Rod Steward and the Small Faces, Stoneground (who formed on the Caravan), Shawn Phillips, Mott the Hoople, and Pink Floyd with whom we combined our pretty incredible PA system with theirs for a true quadraphonic experience. The only problem was that there was a grounding difference between the 110 volts coming from the generator to our gear and the 240 volts for the Brit gear. You didn’t want to touch the metal of the PA tower scaffolding and any grounded part of the PA itself…
For an audience of fewer than 800 souls, it was a great gig…
And for Martin Scorcese, it was a mess of a film to try to put together out of unlabeled cans of film. The French film crew had discovered acid on that trip, and they were so blasted for much of the adventure that they sometimes forgot to put film in their cameras, they put film in the wrong cans, they forgot to sync to the 16 track machine, and they usually didn’t label much…

For us, it was all in a day’s work. Being the Dead’s technical crew, we were quite used to life on the road being a constant Acid Test…

Rick Turner

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Hi ,

Well done guys on your website as I have at last I have found some info on the festival. I was beginning to think after all these years that I had just dreamt it.
I was only 16 at the time & was taken there under the influence of my first intro to alcohol & grass ! I was grounded by my parents for weeks afterwards !!
I have spoken over the years to people about it to see if anyone knew anything at all as no one ever seems to have heard of it, & thought I was making it up as Pink Floyd would never have played such a small festival. A lot of my friends had gone to the Isle of Wight & were convinced I was telling a fantasy tale as I hadnt gone with them.
I have lost track of the guys that I went along with. as I moved out the Kent area shortly afterwards.
I can just remember that I couldnt believe that I was so close to Pink Floyd who performed as it got dark - incredibly atmospheric .
Rod Stewart was also brilliant & from what I remember had the audience ( is that all there was there 1,000 people ? ) up leaping about.
What a shame there is no footage of it ? would love to hear from anyone that was there!
all the best,
Simon .

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Hi guys, thanks for putting up the site about the Medicine Ball Caravan Canterbury Festival in England…1970. You are correct in stating that I joined Stoneground after they crossed the Atlantic to England. I played the Canterbury Festival with Stoneground as well as Silver Metre. We recorded a Stoneground album in London, unfortunately it was never released in spite of being very representative of the bands live sound. We later recorded Stonegrounds first official US release in Los Angeles. Pink Floyd sounded great at the Canterbury show.
I’d love to get a copy of the poster if possible.

I knew Tom Dunphy very well…quite a character to say the least. It’s possible that the footage was shot by a French director who filmed the “Medicine Ball Caravan” trip across the US. I had just arrived back in England when Tom Donahue asked me to join ”Stoneground” who had just come over from the states. We went to Paris to view the rushes of the film and play a couple of shows in France. I don’t remember seeing footage of the Canterbury show, but I bet somebody has it.
Thanks again.
Pete Sears

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Hi

Yes, finally I have found info on the festival I went to on my 16th birthday just a few miles down the road from where I lived at the time and in fact still do again. Like one of the previous posters I too have lost contact with the people I went with, and have been very frustrated trying to convince my husband that it had taken place at all!

I remember going to the Mermaid ,the nearest pub to the park and there being a lot of american bikers present, the first time I saw a Harley. Also the free food tents on site and the glorious summer weather.
Looking at the line up, I also believe that Deep Purple played but I cannot be sure, anyone else remember?
Teresa.

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Well just like most others that witnessed this amazing spectacle....It all seems like a dream right now!

On the evening of the festival at Brabourne, myself and a group of friends were at Tofts club in Folkestone to see american country blues band Daddy Longlegs.

Around halfway through the bands set they told the audience about a festival taking place near Canterbury at which they had been playing earlier in the day and which was being fimed by Warner Brothers. This was probably about nine o clock and Brabourne was an hour away by [the last] bus but we just had to get there, we were only sixteen but we were out watching music whenever and wherever we could and this was just too good a chance to miss. We shot up to the buss station and extremely breathlessly got on a bus to Cheriton so that we could grab a sleeping bag and talk our parents into lending us ten bob! Having got our gear together, we all met at the bus stop for Canterbury.

Arriving at Bridge - the nearest village to Brabourne, we set off on our jaunt along the completely pitch black lane. Having travelled a mile or so, we came to a country church at which point and as if by bloody magic we heard the first strains of The Floyd's Careful With That Axe Eugine - now....imagine that if you can...hair on end stuff!!. This was the best ten bob that I had ever invested in my early music jaunts!! Or.... was it the five shillings that got me into the Bath Festival of Blues....Oh - come on lets get back to the story!! Well just as we heard the music, we noticed the beam from a search light in the sky beyond the outline of the trees in the distance. Of course we now got a bit of a leg on and were almost running down the darkened lane until someone decided to go off road and head directly for the source of the light. Fighting our way through the undergrowth, the music became louder and louder untill we literally broke through some bushes and there in front of our eyes was a small raised stage with a Panavision camera man travelling along the width of the stage filming...The Floyd.

Jesus, we couldnt believe it - there were only a couple of hundred people gathered in front of the stage.......it was just awesome!!! It is really a shame that the Canterbury footage has not seen the light of day. It must still be sitting around on a shelf somewhere, I doubt if it’s been dumped. It probably needs somebody with the time and persistence to track it down! Actually, a cameraman came right into the crowd to film a guy [ Colin Trainer ] that was with us and that looked a dead ringer for Marty Feldman and had a great style of freaking out.

I really dont remember how or when we got home but I will never forget hearing Careful With That Axe Eugene down that old dark lane or breaking through those bushes. It was truly amazing.
Carl

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I was another 16 year old who found a phone box and persuaded our parents to let my 14 year old sister, my best friend and I stay the night. We sat on the grass next to Richard Chamberlain and Paul Gambaccini (who was the UK correspondent for Rolling Stone magazine). We had never seen people smoking dope or playing frisbee. I remember Wavy Gravy told us that it took 50 years for a cigarette filter to bio-degrade. Fell asleep listening to Pink Floyd and the spell that was woven had changed us for ever.
Charlotte