![]() ![]() Seven years in the making, off and on, Hillman’s book covers multiple bases. That was an interesting arc for me to go from playing Monterey to Altamont in such a short period of time.” I’ve got the poster from Altamont on the wall and it still gives me the creeps to look at it. Altamont was just a few months after the (Charles) Manson murders and it got progressively darker from there. That was the day - this sounds like sounds like a bad song, and with no offense to Don McLean - that the ‘60s died. Before the last note on my bass died out, I handed my bass to one of the road crew guys and got out of there. “The Angels were beating a fat guy with pool cues. I was headed to the stage with my bass guitar and this Angel stopped me, and said: ‘Where do you think you’re going?’ Then, as I was going up the stairs onto the stage, David Crosby was coming down, and he said: ‘Be careful. The Hell’s Angels were providing ‘security’ and they were horrible and frightening. “Altamont would have made a great horror movie, except it was real. After the Monterey Pop Festival, record company executives knew there was money to be made and would sign anyone that could walk, had a pulse and write a song. Josh White and Judy Collins were part of the lineup. I had played in 1963 with the Golden State Boys at the Monterey Folk Festival. “The diversity of the lineup, from Otis Redding and Jimi Hendrix to Janis Joplin and Ravi Shankar, was remarkable. “To this day, I believe that Monterey was the best music festival ever,” Hillman declared. Hillman’s 315-page “Time Between” takes its name from what has long been regarded as the first country-rock song ever recorded, which he wrote for The Byrds’ fourth album, 1967’s “Younger Than Yesterday.” He is perhaps the only musician whose credits include performing at the seminal Monterey Pop Festival in 1967 and the Grand Ole Opry in 1968 (both with The Byrds), then at the bloody, decade-ending Altamont festival in 1969 (with the Flying Burrito Brothers). I couldn’t believe it! ‘Oh, we get paid?’ ” We played a gig and we each got paid $5 or $10. “The Barkers was probably one of the best bands I ever played in, but I didn’t look at it like: ‘OK, this is step one in my musical career,’ ” Hillman said. “I still feel blessed to have met people who were always pointing a way, a direction, for me and saying: ‘Why don’t you try doing it this way’?”īy 17, Hillman was a member of top San Diego bluegrass band The Scottsville Squirrel Barkers, with which he would record his first album a few years later. ![]() “Billy was fantastic,” Hillman said, speaking recently from the Ventura home he shares with his wife of 41 years, Connie. While attending San Dieguito High School, he found an invaluable musical mentor in Bill Smith, a custodian who was well-versed in nearly all things bluegrass. After becoming hooked on bluegrass, via albums by Flatt & Scruggs, The Stanley Brothers and Bill Monroe, Hillman bought a new Kay mandolin at Singing Strings in Encinitas.Īs he had first done with guitar, he learned to play mandolin by listening to his favorite albums, over and over, at a slower speed than they were recorded. It was followed by a used Epiphone, for which he paid $50. These were likely the best investments either of them ever made.Ī year later, the self-taught Hillman moved up to a Goya acoustic that cost $100. She paid the $10 price and promised her son that, if he stuck with the instrument for a full year, she would pay half the cost for him to acquire a better guitar. ![]() Please call Jim at 1-86 with any specific questions.He and his mother found it in a shop in Tijuana when he was 15. These are scanner anomalies, and do not appear on the poster), and is far less common than the version featured in "The Art Of Rock". It would frame beautifully (there are a couple of black horizontal lines along the top edge. It remains in very good condition, with some discoloration in the left margin (kind of looks like smoke damage) along with an edge nick in the same area. This historic poster measures approximately 21 3/4" x 27 3/4", and is printed on glossy stock. This very cool bubble image is the handiwork of Lance Bragg. It is estimated that roughly 125,000 fans were in attendance, which is remarkable given that temperatures were near 100 degrees both days. ![]() This event, the first annual, took place July 4 & 5 at the Atlanta International Raceway, and featured Janis Joplin, Led Zeppelin, Johnny Winter, Grand Funk Railroad, Joe Cocker & CCR. Offered here is an original/first print poster that was used to promote the 1969 Atlanta International Pop Festival. ![]()
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