Ann Arbor Blues Festival: Difference between revisions

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	The '''Ann Arbor Blues Festival''' was a blues festival that took place in ] in 1969 and 1970.

	==Overview==
	There is no record of any blues festival of any similar scope and extent that the first Ann Arbor Blues Festival, which was organized in 1968 and held in 1969. {{Citation needed\|date=June 2007}}

	It featured artists like ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], and many other modern-electric blues players. The festival also featured traditional blues artists like ] and those in between, like ], ], and many others.

	In Ann Arbor, the accent was off folk and country blues and on modern, big-city, electric blues artists. While the ] featured more than folk music and to a degree helped blues to segue from folk and country blues to more modern blues, it was in Ann Arbor that the first all-out extravaganza of modern city blues was born.

	It helped to mark the discovery of modern blues music and the musicians that made that music. It helped introduce black culture to white musicians. Major blues artists came from all over to play, but also to listen and socialize, which helped open their minds to new styles of music.

	==Background==
	The first two festivals were sponsored by the University Activity Center (UAC) of the ] and the ], and were organized by a small group of University of Michigan students, led by ].

	Late in 1968, Fishel and a small group of students formed an exploratory committee to create a blues festival, tentatively scheduled for the fall of 1969. They traveled to ] to hear well-known blues men in south side Chicago bars and clubs. They came back with their eyes opened, more convinced then ever to organize a festival.

	Concerned that their audience would not understand or have sufficient interest in the concept, they first held a warm-up concert in the spring of 1969, so that students could preview the music and build an appetite for the coming festival. The preliminary concert was held in the ], featuring the ], a young blues group from Chicago. It was a success and the larger festival was scheduled for the fall. The University of Michigan approved a budget and Fishel and his group set about making the festival a reality.

⚫	~~===1969~~ Ann Arbor Blues Festival~~===~~
	The festival turned out successful. That first Ann Arbor Blues Festival in 1969 included blues artists such as ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], and many others. The 1969 Ann Arbor Blues and Jazz Festival made a profit and it was decided to make this an annual event. A proposed budget for the 1970 concert was formulated and accepted by the university.

	Critics of the first two Ann Arbor Blues Festivals has pointed out that the choice of talent was too esoteric and that the artists were not known by the general public. There was no attempt to include ], R&B, or popular headliners in these first festivals. In defense of the early festivals, it is only fair to point out that at the time of those first two blues festivals, these performers were indeed almost completely unknown to White America. That is a major reason why the original Ann Arbor Blues Festival was undertaken: to bring these artists to general attention, which it did.

	===1970 Ann Arbor Blues Festival===
	For this festival, the same concept was followed as with the first: gather together as many of the great blues players, of all styles, as the budget would allow. The program for the 1970 Ann Arbor Blues Festival was as the first festival and included artists like ], ], ], ], ], and dozens of other performers.

	However, the 1970 festival ran into stiff competition from a large rock concert being held at the same time, in nearby Goose Lake. The ] drew attendees away from the blues festival, with the result that the festival came out in the red, a loss of some $30,000, a lot in those days. It should be noted that festival organizer ] went on to create four additional blues festivals in Miami, Florida from 1972 through 1974.

	The festival was recorded by ] and ].

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Latest revision as of 23:20, 30 December 2009

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Ann Arbor Blues and Jazz Festival