Talk:Ozark Music Festival

Possible Sources
Wikipedia doesn't care if you were there or not. It is only interested in documented sources. If you were interviewed by a newspaper or magazine, then you have a source. Your own memories don't meet their "no original research" standard. I found the Senate meeting quote by the Missouri Highway Patrol, and a few other things, so that shifted this article from the "missing references" category to the "needs more source" category. I did find these other sources by searching newspapers online. They are all only offered by subscription services, so I didn't actually look at them, but there are a good place to start for anyone willing to do the extra research. CClio333 (talk) 20:49, 19 April 2008 (UTC)
 * - Hearne, Christopher. “Bad Blood Still Flows in Sedalia.” Kansas City Star. 3/15/2004. Page E1.
 * - Parsons, Dana. “It Won’t Be Like Old Times When Eagles Come to Town.” LA Times, Orange County Edition. 4/1/1994. Metro Section.
 * - Powell, Larry. “So what precipitates a name?” Dallas Morning News. 7/23/2003.
 * - Great Bend Tribune. 11/28/1974. “Four men have been arraigned on charges in connection with the promotion and conduct of the Ozark Music Festival here last summer that attracted about ...”
 * - Chillicothe Constitution Tribune. 10/1/1974. “recent problems associated with the Missouri State fairgrounds including the Ozark Music Festival”

Masters Thesis
Today I found a 100+ page document in the Central Missouri State University library about this festival. It is a very well researched masters thesis by a student at this college from 1992.

It has a very long list of references and publications about the festival, and is also very informative about the goings on.

It has a full list of the performers of the festival--Several of which are not listed in this Wikipedia article because apparently, some of the acts in the Rolling Stone ad, like like Mahavishnu Orchestra. , cancelled and were replaced with different performers,

I have not read the entire thing, but it will be a good source for answering any remaining questions about the festival anyone might have. I will also


 * Maybe this is the Master's Thesis you are talking about? Robert Heil. "Practical Considerations of Touring Rock PA Systems." May 1975. CClio333 (talk) 21:20, 19 April 2008 (UTC)

Fair use rationale for Image:Ozarkfest.jpg
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BetacommandBot (talk) 20:02, 5 December 2007 (UTC)

I was there....
I don't need to have this event verified. I was there. It was a blast. We lived near Whiteman A.F.B. We went early......took a motorbike........it was hassle free. I think I still have the ticket stubbs somewhere. $15.00 for 2 and a half awesome days of partying. The music was .......wow! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.187.45.170 (talk) 04:50, 9 February 2008 (UTC)

I was there too! Seemed to be a well run festival with the best acts. A lot of the writing seems put a untrue slant. example suggesting it strange for people to arrive the night before when they are coming from across the country,etc. The train comes once a day so you would miss that day's music if you traveled that day, happened to me and girl friend the last day.

I have a number of details as a first-hand witness, and a paid employee of Wells Fargo security for the event
Here are the basics of my account. I will follow-up with additional reference information and details. I am very interested to read the 1992 thesis on this subject. Please post that document if possible. 1. Several days prior to the event, possibly as early as Tuesday, early arrivals were gathering and camping outside of the main gate. There was a confrontation with Missouri Highway Patrol troopers and several people were taken into custody. The promoters of the event were quite concerned and there was a meeting with state officials who were convinced by promoters that security for the event was well cared for (a contract to Wells Fargo Security based in KC, MO.) and that law enforcement personnel were not necessary or required for the event. For some inexplicable reason, state officials agreed, and there was essentially zero law enforcement presence amongst the 150,000 or so attendees for 3 straight days. There was a KC Times article following the Tuesday confrontation with State Police. I will try to track that down. 2. I was a student at U of Kansas in Lawrence, KS. An alumni of my fraternity worked for Wells Fargo security company and I was made aware that positions were available for temporary security "guards" for this event only. I believe the pay was about $150 total, but included bus transportation to and from Arrowhead Stadium in KC, use of air conditioned barracks on-site, and of course free passage to the event. We were issued rather cool t-shirts that had a logo of the event and said "Security" on the back. That was the extent of equipment assigned. I boarded the bus (there were 2 I believe) in KC on Thursday or Friday. We were "briefed" on our security duties on the bus. It was a motley crew on board to say the least. More than a few of those on the bus simply took the ride and passage to the event and melted into the crowd. 3. Most of the duties of this security position were standing "guard" on holes that had been cut in the fence, or simply broken areas of fence along the perimeter. I witnessed many security employees that would simply accept a payment or drugs in exchange for passage through their gate or fence-hole assigned area. The statements regarding open drug sales and use were certainly true. Again, imagine 1974 and 150,000 young people and no (I mean zero) police. The main stage and concert area was essentially in the center of the race track facility at the state fairgrounds. There were numerous vendor booths set up during the day - food, drinks and other goods sold during the day. Those vendors closed at 10pm each night, and soon thereafter, drug dealers would overtake the empty booths and actually post a menu with prices of various drugs for sale. 4. The nudity was quite amazing. There was an amazing mix of humanity at this event - college kids, straight-laced types and hippies, dead-heads, sorority girls displaying their historical version of girls gone wild behaviors. Mainly just toplessness really. However, drug and alcohol use contributed to a lack of inhibition that was not always warranted given the wild surroundings and various criminal elements that were bound to be present. I want to make it clear that the security detail that I was a part of had absolutely no law enforcement authority or capability. 5. Much credit should be directed towards medical professionals that donated their time and skills in a make-shift hospital that was set up in an adminstration building near the concert area. Much of the duties I assumed were related to shuttling medical emergencies out of the infield area to this make-shift hospital. I spoke to one M.D. from K.C. that had donated his weekend as a volunteer. They essentially set up a Mash-type triage operation attempting to diagnose, stabilize and order transport for non-stabilized patients. We had several golf carts and in the heat of both weekend days, ran continuous shuttles to and from the infield. The drug and alcohol use was contibuting quickly to the heat prostration and dehydration and even critical sunburn injuries that were the bulk of the emergencies. In a number of cases, drugged out parents allowed infants and toddlers to be unprotected in the 100+ degree sun. There were unconscious toddlers that were essentially sunburned head to toe. The bulk of the emergencies were drug issues given the wide variety and questionable origin and make-up of many drugs being distributed. 6. The last issue for this post - several months following the event, I was served with a subpoena requiring testimony in a case involving a dispute over gate proceeds and alleged misappropriation. Thus there should be a case file available for a dispute over the proceeds. I gave a sworn statement to a plaintiffs attorney, but was never required to provide further information. I look forward to helping to expand information on this subject. To say the least, this was one of the most memorable experiences of my life - a combination of good, bad and in-between memories. jeffjhawk 3/29/08 —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.119.214.123 (talk) 03:07, 30 March 2008 (UTC)

FIRST-HAND ACCOUNT

I drove up from Little Rock, Arkansas with my wife and a buddy. It was a long wait to get inside the fairgrounds. We must have gotten there Friday morning because we had to set up camp way at the back of the grounds just about as far away from the stage as one could get. Our camp was in corn stubble with a field of corn growing a few tents away from us. It was field corn and rather inedible, but that didn't stop folks from trying anyway. There was no way to see all the music. Even if you tried to stay at the stage area, you would eventually pass out from the heat or other reasons. You could have definitely gotten any kind of drug or substance that you wanted. I remember the temperature being reported on the radio of 105 degrees, but we thought it was even hotter than that in the field and especially inside the tent. I clearly remember seeing America and Leo Kottke up close. It was so hot they had to lay white towels over the top of their guitars to keep from burning the undersides of their arms. I did sound for Leo Kottke in the mid-nineties at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. I told him about seeing him at the festival. He perked up and said that they scared the hell out of him when they flew him to the stage in an old Vietnam era helicopter without any doors. He thought they were going to make him fall right out when they made their turns. He said that's how they brought all the performers in & out. You couldn't drive anyone around it was so crowded. Leo also commented on the heat. We brought some food but had to go to the local store outside of the gates once for provisions. The store was boarded up with plywood over the windows & doors. They would let someone in as another would leave. I have no memory of what we bought or what we ate. We got into the spray from a fire hydrant that was opened to get some relief from the blistering heat. Some water hoses were running inside the fairgrounds, but they were too hard to get up to because of all the thirsty hippies. I remember going to an area once that I thought was a football stadium just for something else to do. There was no music in there, we just sat on the bleachers and took a break. I wonder if that was the area others have referred to as the infield where the medical MASH was? Aside from the music and the heat and running into my cousin who I didn't even know was going, my favorite memory is the co-ed shower houses. Sweet! Tom6185 (talk) 19:29, 21 June 2012 (UTC)