Overview

For a time, the Isle of Wight Festivals transformed a sleepy English island into the rock'n'roll capital of the world. From promoting a one-nighter in 1968, to raise funds for a local swimming pool, the young Foulk brothers were able to out-perform Woodstock, by signing the world-exclusive appearance of rock's poet laureate, Bob Dylan. The de facto leader of the counterculture had been hidden away in the artist-town of Woodstock, rarely seen after a motor cycle accident three years earlier. He turned his back on the eponymous festival, put there to persuade him to come out and play, but Dylan left for Europe on the day their event began. For the Foulk brothers - lacking experience, resources and time - the coup and ensuing public response was almost overwhelming, but with audacious bravado and steely determination they delivered the most awaited event of the era. Devotees from hippies to celebrities flocked to the Island from mainland Britain, Europe, the Americas and as far away as Australia. As well as changing the lives of Ray and his brothers the phenomenon played its part in a highly transformative period for Bob Dylan, in which the Isle of Wight remained his one and only full concert appearance in seven-and-a-half years.

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9781909339507

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Reviews

Beyond merely being a book about a festival, Foulk does a masterful job in telling the true story of what it took to get Dylan on the bill and what it all meant for all involved. The text is accompanied by photographs of the various artists on stage and in attendance as well as many fascinating behind the scenes pictures. -- The Rock and Roll Chemist One of the fantastic things about exploring Dylan's pre-and post-festival reclusiveness in part one, Stealing Dylan from Woodstock, is that we see how this historic Isle of Wight event locates within the star's own story, and maybe even how the festival affected his subsequent career. -- The Big Issue The book includes a potted account of Dylan's life and work, and some fantastic unseen photographs. . .But it's the human stories that compel. As well as the colourful cavalcade of performers - including Joe Cocker, Richie Havens and The Band - there's a stellar supporting cast of English eccentrics. --Graeme Thomson Daily Mail The full story, which he is revealing only now, complete with never-before-seen photographs, sheds new light on a mysterious period in the life of rock's greatest songwriter, and has a supporting cast of Beatles and other rock gods. -- The Independent

The book includes a potted account of Dylan's life and work, and some fantastic unseen photographs. . .But it's the human stories that compel. As well as the colourful cavalcade of performers - including Joe Cocker, Richie Havens and The Band - there's a stellar supporting cast of English eccentrics. --Graeme Thomson Daily Mail Beyond merely being a book about a festival, Foulk does a masterful job in telling the true story of what it took to get Dylan on the bill and what it all meant for all involved. The text is accompanied by photographs of the various artists on stage and in attendance as well as many fascinating behind the scenes pictures. --The Rock and Roll Chemist One of the fantastic things about exploring Dylan's pre-and post-festival reclusiveness in part one, Stealing Dylan from Woodstock, is that we see how this historic Isle of Wight event locates within the star's own story, and maybe even how the festival affected his subsequent career. --The Big Issue The full story, which he is revealing only now, complete with never-before-seen photographs, sheds new light on a mysterious period in the life of rock's greatest songwriter, and has a supporting cast of Beatles and other rock gods. --The Independent

Beyond merely being a book about a festival, Foulk does a masterful job in telling the true story of what it took to get Dylan on the bill and what it all meant for all involved. The text is accompanied by photographs of the various artists on stage and in attendance as well as many fascinating behind the scenes pictures. --The Rock and Roll Chemist One of the fantastic things about exploring Dylan's pre-and post-festival reclusiveness in part one, Stealing Dylan from Woodstock, is that we see how this historic Isle of Wight event locates within the star's own story, and maybe even how the festival affected his subsequent career. --The Big Issue The book includes a potted account of Dylan's life and work, and some fantastic unseen photographs. . .But it's the human stories that compel. As well as the colourful cavalcade of performers - including Joe Cocker, Richie Havens and The Band - there's a stellar supporting cast of English eccentrics. --Graeme Thomson Daily Mail The full story, which he is revealing only now, complete with never-before-seen photographs, sheds new light on a mysterious period in the life of rock's greatest songwriter, and has a supporting cast of Beatles and other rock gods. --The Independent

Author Information

RAY FOULK, now based in Oxford, has fostered many passions since his early days as a promoter. After the dizzy heights of the Isle of Wight Festivals and stadium events in London, the Foulk brothers were head-hunted by the Milton Keynes Development Corporation to help plan the leisure content of their new city. Through this Ray brought the inventor/scientist/ designer Buckminster Fuller, to the project, embraced his environmentalism, and eventually trained as an architect himself at the University of Cambridge. Combining design, education and promotion he spent much of the nineties and noughties as an environmental campaigner, and led the ambitious in-schools project, Blue Planet Day, rekindling the satisfaction, and more, that the festivals had brought to his youth. Recent years have been dominated by environmental architecture and writing. CAROLINE FOULK has worked with her father, Ray, for many years, researching, writing, and co-promoting the schools environmental project, Blue Plant Day. Recently, together they have completed a screenplay for the cinema about the invention of modern art. Caroline trained and worked as a teacher and lives in Oxford with her husband and three children.

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