Kent State University Folk Festival ‘68

Guy came up to play at the Ark with us shortly after school had started in the fall. He was attending classes at LC³ and had brought up a flier advertising the 2nd Annual Kent State Folk Festival, open to all university students and folk bands. We decided to enter. The headliners for the festival were Judy Collins and Gorden Lightfoot.

Our band then consisted of Guy, Ted, Russ, and myself. Boris came along for the ride. We spent the night prior to the show at our family home in Lorain. We all slept on the floor that night, except Guy, who had his own room there. 

Dad was excited and made several tapes of us practicing and some of Boris playing classical pieces. He had a Grundig reel to reel recorder. I think Guy may still have those tapes. And of course, Mom was equally pleased.

Each performer got to play a three song set. Ours consisted of Peter, Paul, and Mary’s version of Buddy Can You Spare a Dime – the anthem of the Great Depression, The Great Mandala by Peter Yarrow, and the Peter, Paul, and Mary version of Leaving on a Jet Plane by John Denver. Some of my old friends had put together a band from LC³, the same ones who had ridden together with me to get the Hendrix tickets that I spoke about previously. They were pretty good, but said they were amazed at our performance – our three part harmonies and guitar work were impecable. I was led to believe that this was to be a competition. but no places or awards were given. But we did get a gig down at Ohio University out of it for the following weekend. And that was another great adventure. Yes, we all went, including Boris. That was a very successful show. But all good things come to an end.

Guy informed me that Mom, Dad, and Uncle Bob, who was a Major in the Air Force at that time, had guilted him into enlisting in the Air Force. I tried to talk him out of it, even offering to go to Canada with him if he would, but to no avail. Things unraveled pretty quickly after that. Yes, life went on in Ann Arbor, but it wasn’t the same, and when I got an opportunity to try something different, I went for it… Tanglewood, Berkshire Music Center Summer Session. I’ve already posted this adventure. So, if you missed it, here’s the link: ( https://simplegeezer.wordpress.com/2023/04/17/tanglewood-69/ ) This is where it belongs in the timeline. 

To be Continued

–LE