Knebworth 2 : Saturday July 5 1975 Promoted by Frederick Bannister On the bill in alphabetical order: CAPTAIN BEEFHEART and his MAGIC BAND GRAHAM CHAPMAN and MONTY PYTHON'S FLYING POPS CIRCUS ROY HARPER and TRIGGER LINDA LEWIS THE STEVE MILLER BAND PINK FLOYD "Inside the arena hundreds of colourful flags bearing names, places, and mottoes, fluttered over a mass of bodies waiting for the concert to begin. From the year before I recognised 'Jesus', a kind of freelance philosopher and exhibitionist who turns up at all the festivals with his long blonde hair, royal blue singlet, beads and a large pink plastic flower. He'd worn a sarong and danced naked the previous year. The stalls were selling incense, badges, king-size cigarette papers, frisbees and patchouli oil." from Knebworth Rock Festivals by Chryssie Lytton Cobold. "Welcome to our KNEBWORTH CONCERT. We hope you enjoy your day at Knebworth, and enter into the spirit of our Knebworth park." from the Official Programme.

On the bill in order of appearance:

Linda Lewis "At noon Linda Lewis opened the festival; a small figure dressed in black top and white trousers, accompanied by her band, Robert Ahwai (guitar), Max Middleton (piano), Clive Chapman (bass), Gerry Conway (drums) and Daryl Lee Que (congas). It is no easy task to be first and though her high, sweet voice charmed the front half of the audience, there were cries of "Turn it up" from the back. Her attempt at a singalong during the closing song was a failure. A crate of pigeons was let loose over the heads of the crowd as she left the stage." from Knebworth Rock Festivals by Chryssie Lytton Cobold. "The career of Linda Lewis has taken a mighty step in the last few months. After playing a two-week season at Ronnie Scott's Club she was invited back within three months (setting a record in the process) to headline for three weeks. Working with her highly controlled yet versatile six-man group, she combined her unique vocal prowess with a presence and sophisticated sensuality that is hard to fault. The cute, little-girl-next-door images of yesterday seemed blurred and the "not a little girl anymore" statement was emphatic." from the Official Programme. Refer to: Linda Lewis Web Site Top of Page Return to Home Page

Roy Harper and Trigger "There was a lengthy delay before Roy Harper came on stage. Dramas erupted backstage. Harper threw a tantrum when he discovered that his chauffeur driven Rolls Royce had been driven away with his stage clothes in the boot; he wrecked one caravan and was only just restrained as he set about wrecking a second. He had been invited to join the bill at the special request of Pink Floyd. He eventually wandered onstage with a small orchestra behind him. He made a slow start, and, like Linda Lewis, couldn't be heard from the back of the arena. Soon, with the help of Trigger, his band, and a few more decibels, he came to life and gave a first rate performance. Songs like Highway Blues and Please Leave The World As You Find Itare great festival fare. But he didn't look happy and announced that he was quitting England for America (an idle threat)." from Knebworth Rock Festivals by Chryssie Lytton Cobold. "There are probably more false impressions and bland misinterpretations of this man kicking around in after dinner conversations than of any other contemporary personality. No one merely likes Harper. His disclaimers will kick him in the groin, his sworn allies will kill on his behalf. His philosophy is not one of compromise - if in doubt, he will push on over the top." from the Official Programme. Refer to: Official Roy Harper Home Page Stormcock Biography All Music Guide profile See also: Roy Harper & Andy Roberts at Knebworth 4 1978 Top of Page Return to Home Page

Graham Chapman and Monty Python's Flying Pops Circus "Monty Python's Flying Pops Circus contributed to a crazy day with an added touch of lunacy. Graham Chapman, dressed as the silly colonel, was given a hard time by the punters and eventually shouted off the stage." from Knebworth Rock Festivals by Chryssie Lytton Cobold. Refer to: Chapmania Monty Python's Daily Llama Ministry of Silly Walks Remember Graham Chapman Graham Chapman Biography Top of Page Return to Home Page

"I ventured backstage for the first time: it was full of beautiful people, who didn't seem a bit interested in the music. At Pink Floyd's insistence, there was a backstage bar. The press, never encouraged by Freddie Bannister to come to his concerts, were having difficulty getting into the enclosure infront of the stage supposedly reserved for them. It was full of an assortment of people, including children, dogs, and even cats. Several councillors had come to view the festival and even the most sceptical amongst them, while admitting it wasn't their scene, were impressed with the organisation ... (they obviously hadn't spoken to the press). They thought every eventuality had been catered for and all departments were reinforced in case something went wrong!" from Knebworth Rock Festivals by Chryssie Lytton Cobold.

Captain Beefheart and his Magic Band "Captain Beefheart had taken leave of absence from Frank Zappa's band The Mothers, whom he had joined three months ago, specially to come to Knebworth. He came on stage in a red shirt and trilby hat with his newly formed Magic Band and he tried hard to arouse some enthusiasm from the sleepy passive crowd. He jarred the eardrums, and senses, and growled at the audience. His opening number was marred by a scuffle in front of the stage, and security men piled in to sort it out. There were some bright moments when he played the harp, and he did actually manage to get the fans to their feet for the first time in the day." from Knebworth Rock Festivals by Chryssie Lytton Cobold. "Snapshots of Captain Beefheart, chronologically: wailing wildly through a wall of sound, is it a sax, a coffee-grinder, a hookah ... a first-time musette? Louder than anything we'd ever heard before (short of the Who's open-air destruction derby), the stage one pole, the audience another, a high voltage arc that smokes and crackles a heady ozone whiff, incense and that peculiar smell of chemically energized bodies. That impulsive stalk from one side of the stage to another. Captain Beefheart, freak hero for a week at Covent Garden's Middle Earth, strikes blind with lucidity, the sun sparkling off morning rooftops with unaccustomed brilliance, sparrows greeting a new day, not like those that went before, clattering distantly through a fifty hertz hum into electrified ears." from the Official Programme. Personnel: Don Van Vliet - Vocals, Harp, Sax Greg Davidson - Guitar Elliot Ingber - Guitar Bruce Fowler - Air Bass, Trombone John French - Drums, Guitar (Dali's Car) Jimmy Carl Black - Drums Set list: Moonlight on Vermont; Abba Zaba; Orange Claw Hammer; Dali's Car; When It Blows Its Stacks; My Human Gets Me Blues; Alice in Blunderland; Beatle Bones 'n' Smokin Stones; Gimme Dat Harp Boy; Electricity; I'm Gonna Booglarize Ya, Baby; Sam With the Showing Scalp Flat Top; Improv; Big Eyed Beans From Venus Refer to: Captain Beefheart Radar Station Live Performances and Rehearsals All Music Guide profile Top of Page Return to Home Page

"The sky was cloudy, the atmosphere humid, a police helicopter kept hovering overhead like an angry bee. The smell of large, hand-rolled cigarettes hung heavy in the air. Someone had lost his glasses in the latrine pit. Many people seemed to be asleep." from Knebworth Rock Festivals by Chryssie Lytton Cobold.

The Steve Miller Band "It was to be Steve Miller's only live appearance of the year and his first in Britain for two years. Having disbanded his group last year, he brought most of them together again for the Knebworth Festival. A pleasant, slick blues guitarist with a good voice, Miller tore into a lively set of boogie material, great for outdoors. Enthusiasm revived, the crowd woke up and gave him a great reception. One fan swayed from a 70ft mast throughout the set, though he was persuaded down in the end for safety reasons. Shu Ba Da Du Ma Ma had everyone dancing and yelling for more. Freight Train Blues, Living In The USA and Space Cowboy finished a popular performance." from Knebworth Rock Festivals by Chryssie Lytton Cobold. "It was like watching re-runs of Route 66, that old television series where George Maharias and Martin Milner go around the country in a new Corvette solving people's problems, letting various women fall in love with them, earning the everlasting gratitude of the simple townsfolk and then splitting, on their way, you understand, to even more exciting adventures in their Chevrolet. Steve Miller and I were driving around Mill Valley in his white Datsun 240Z. It was a night to celebrate and we were trying out the various bars, most of which, in our mutual estimation, were dismal. Then - this was late, I forgot the place - we found an acceptable bar with acceptable music. Acceptable, I think, because the piano and the rhythm were strong and the singer knew what "on key" meant." from the Official Programme. Reprinted from the January 31, 1973 issue of the "San Francisco Bay Guardian". Refer to: Steve Miller Band Official Web Site Gangster Of Love - Unofficial Steve Miller Band Page All Music Guide profile Top of Page Return to Home Page

"Because of the large crowds, security guards began taking down the ticket barriers, leaving fans who had only come to see the stars - Pink Floyd - free entrance to the arena. John Peel asked everyone to move an inch forward so another few hundred could get into the arena." from Knebworth Rock Festivals by Chryssie Lytton Cobold.

Pink Floyd "After a long and boring delay of two hours, as the sun set over the park, Pink Floyd, the number one exponents of psychedelic rock, came on stage. There could not have been a more spectacular start. The giant stage 15ft above the crowd was bathed in beams of light and at times obscured from view behind blasts of green smoke, and shimmering volleys of fireworks exploded in time with each musical climax. The came the moment everyone was waiting for: a rocket like projectile, held on a 60ft mast at the rear of the arena, was finally released and careered down a long wire over the heads of the crowd to the stage to be met by an orgiastic burst of sound from the group and a wild roar from the audience." from Knebworth Rock Festivals by Chryssie Lytton Cobold. "For the Pink Floyd, open air concerts have been what they might call a wheeze. "Except", says Nick Mason, ":that we have a tendency to produce rain. If there are droughts in your area ..." But it was a free concert in Hyde Park which really started thye Floyd on an upward path again after their Syd Barrett / singles-concentrated period in the late Sixties, and the mere idea of the Floyd out in the open is enough to conjure a whiff of nostalgia. A garden party at Crystal Palace was the last occasion British audiences saw them in such a context - and that was quite a spctacle, partly in spite of and partly because of the pouring rain." from the Official Programme. Refer to: The Pink Floyd Hyperbase The Pink Floyd Archives The Pink Floyd Web Ring Variations on the Theme of Absence All Music Guide profile Crystal Palace Garden Party Top of Page Return to Home Page

Compere: John Peel BBC Radio 1 Bio John Peel's Dandelion record label BBC Radio 4 Home Truths

"David issued an invitation to the Pink Floyd band and crew to come up to the House afterwards. It was a last minute suggestion but they accepted. I wasn't prepared for them and rushed back to the house. The study seemed fairly respectable and I didn't expect many of them to trun up. I hurriedly searched around for ashtrays, glasses and some drink, but after twelve hours of music and sixteen hours of sitting on the grass in the park I wasn't feeling particularly bright. I had no idea who the Pink Floyd musicians were or what they looked like, but I'd loved their concert and was excited about entertaining them. Ten years later I still think Pink Floyd put on the best show I have ever seen at Knebworth or anywhere for that matter, but the reviews were disappointing. We still occasionally meet people who were stuck in that record breaking traffic jam all Saturday morning ... they still haven't forgotten the experience either." from Knebworth Rock Festivals by Chryssie Lytton Cobold. "We have been asked by the Police to point out that it is dangerous for pedestrians to be on a Motorway. It is also an offence, so please take care when leaving the concert to avoid walking on the A1(M) Motorway which passes Knebworth Park." extracts from the Official Programme - Price 30p

Top of Page Return to Home Page LINKS to other sites on the Web: Knebworth House - Rock Concert Pages There Must Be A Better Way - Forthcoming Memorabilia Package from Freddie Bannister Posters - direct from Knebworth House Posters - from Freddie Bannister

last updated May 31 2002 with copious thanks to: Chryssie Lytton Cobbold and Henry Cobbold of Knebworth House for their help and encouragement, and for granting permission to quote freely from Knebworth Rock Festivals which now appears to be out of print.