← Chelmsford Folk Festival 1972 source record
Folk Festival and Folk Club Memories
Chelmsford Folk Festival — September 1972 Where & When record →
These are audience recollections supplied for the archive. They record personal memories and reported word of mouth; they do not independently verify a festival lineup or a specific performance.
Chelmsford Folk Festival, 1972
A contributor who was 15 at the time remembers a strong lineup and a mix of jug bands and lesser-known acts on a smaller stage in the marquee. They recall dancing to Steeleye Span and the Strawbs on the main stage, alongside more laid-back sets by Sandy Denny, “Al Steward” playing “Nostradamus,” and Roy Harper singing “I Hate The White Man.”
The contributor remembers Joni Mitchell being expected to top the bill but not appearing. The explanation circulating among people at the festival was that she had refused to play because attendance was too low. The contributor describes the event as poorly attended but friendly and intimate.
“I travelled from Middlesbro to the Chelmsford Folk Fest way back in 1972. I remember the Strawbs ’cos they were the main reason we went … but there was also a guy called Harvey Andrews (he’s still doing the rounds) who was obviously memorable!”
The existing 1972 festival source transcription preserves the submitted accounts in their original context.
Chelmsford Folk Club memories
Jasper Carrott is remembered as having played Chelmsford Folk Club at the Three Cups circa 1972/73.
Roger Perry recalls Paul Simon, Art Garfunkel, Bert Jansch, Martin Carthy and others playing the folk club more than once during the 1960s. He remembers the Queen’s Head in the High Street, opposite Springfield Road and Woolworths, and later or other club locations at the White Horse, Dolphin and Spotted Dog in Tindal Street. He recalls one occasion—at the Queen’s Head, he thinks—when Paul Simon had sung several songs, introduced a friend, and Art Garfunkel came out to sing.