Richard and Mimi's first professional performance as a duo had been at the first Big Sur Festival in 1964 (mentioned in Richard's liner notes to Mark Spoelstra's album, Five and Twenty Questions). The festivals were founded by Nancy Carlen, a friend of Richard, Mimi and Joan, and she remembers those three fondly in her notes to the album One Hand Clapping. The annual event started as folk music seminars, and as they evolved into concerts, they became known as well-managed, small affairs that emphasized quality and atmosphere over publicity and commercial success. Even when big names like CSN&Y; or the Beach Boys appeared, the audiences were limited to a few thousand to preserve an intimate atmosphere and human scale. Although Big Sur is now remembered as the anti-Woodstock, it was originally the anti-Newport.
Background info on the Esalen Institute:
The Esalen Institute was founded in 1962 by two
psychology graduates of Stanford University. Named after a Native American tribe,
the institute combined Asian religious concepts with Western humanistic
psychology and sought to fuse comparative religion with art and ecology. Participants
included Alan Watts and Aldous Huxley.
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The First Big Sur Folk Festival 1964 Featuring: Joan Baez Roger Abraham Nancy Carlen Malvina Reynolds Mark Spoelstra Janet Smith Mimi & Richard Fariña
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Second Big Sur Folk Festival 1965 Featuring: ?
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Third Big Sur Folk Festival Sunday, July 10, 1966 Featuring: Joan Baez Judy Collins Mark Spoelstra Malvina Reynolds Nancy Carlen Al Kooper Mimi Fariña Panel Discussion with Ralph Gleason: "What's Happening Baby"
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Fourth Big Sur Folk Festival June 28-29, 1967 Featuring: Joan Baez Judy Collins Mark Spoelstra Jade the Mad Muse (?) Chambers Brothers Mimi Fariña Al Kooper
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Fifth Big Sur Folk Festival 1968 Featuring: Joan Baez Judy Collins Mimi Fariña Arlo Guthrie Charles River Valley Boys
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Sixth Big Sur Folk Festival 1969 Featuring: Joan Baez Joni Mitchell Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young John Sebastian Johanna Demetrakas Dorothy Morrison & the Edwin Hawkins Singers Mimi Fariña Julie Payne Ruthann Friedman Carol Ann Cisneros The Comb Sisters Chris Ethridge Flying Burrito Brothers Struggle Mountain Resistance Band
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Seventh Big Sur Folk Festival Saturday, October 3, 1970 [Held at Monterey County Fairgrounds] 1:00pm Concert: Beach Boys (Sloop John B, Riot in Cell Block 9, Good Vibrations) John Phillips Joan Baez Merry Clayton and Love Ltd. (soul music; hour, with 25-minute instrumental set) Kris Kristofferson (with Chris Gantry and Vince Matthews) (hour) John Hartford (half hour)
8:00pm Concert:
Joe Cocker and Leon Russell were scheduled but not announced in order to keep audience small. Both canceled.
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Eighth (and final) Big Sur Folk Festival Saturday, September 25, 1971 Featuring: Joan Baez Kris Kristofferson Mimi Fariña and Tom Jans Mickey Newbury Big Sur Choir Lily Tomlin & Larry Manson
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Celebration at Big Sur Film, 1971 from the 1969 festival (not available on DVD) |
Celebration Album, 1970 from the 1970 festival (CD released only in Europe) |
One Hand Clapping Album, 1971 from the 1971 festival (not available on CD) |
