Forest Hills Music Festival

These days it's more famous for hosting tennis but in the 1961 - 1971 it was the centre of some severely groovy gigs. In 1923, Forest Hills Stadium was constructed on open farmland. As the city rose around it, the venue became one of the cathedrals of tennis. It is the original home of the U.S. Open and Davis Cup, and was graced by champions.
In the 1960s, a new inspiration took centre court as the Stadium hosted a series of iconic concerts. The Beatles were helicoptered onto the grass courts for two consecutive sold-out shows in 1964. Barbra Streisand took a break from her role in Broadway's 'Funny Girl' to play a concert at the stadium that same year. Frank Sinatra, Diana Ross, The Rolling Stones, The Who, Talking Heads, and of course Bob Dylan (1963 and 1964 as Joan Baez's guest, 1965 with his new electric band) brought some rock n roll.

In 1967, it started to embrace the developing rock scene, showing, The Lovin' Spoonful, Judy Collins, Johnny Mathis with "Our Young Generation," The Monkees (in their first and only New York concert that year, with Dick Clark and the WMCA "Good Guys" whatever they were), The Supremes, The Four Tops, Joan Baez, Simon and Garfunkel, Trini Lopez, The Sandpipers, Doc Severinson with his Sextet, and Steve Lawrence & Eydie Gorme. Although it’s unconfirmed, and he is not listed in the program, reportedly Jimi Hendrix made one of his early performances at the festival jamming as he was prone to do, with the Monkees which sounds wild.
It was a weekend thing but a series of shows over two months from late June to late August and often combined a range of artists from easy listening to rock. 1970 featured Sly and the Family Stone, Rare EarthSimon & Garfunkel, Leonard Cohen, Janis Joplin, Peter, Paul and Mary, The Band, The 5th Dimension, Ramsey Lewis, 1969 Blood, Sweet and Tears, Eydie Gorme, Janis Joplin, Johnny Winter, Peter, Paul and Mary, Richie Havens, Steve Lawrence and The 5th Dimension, 1968’s line-up Arlo Guthrie, Bee Gees, Bobby Gentry, Diana Ross and The Supremes, Judy Collins, King Curtis and his Kingpins, Lainie Kazan, Marvin Gaye, Nancy Wilson, Peter, Paul and Mary, Simon & Garfunkel, Spanky and Our Gang, Stevie Wonder, The 5th DimensionThe First Edition, The Four Seasons, The Four Tops and Trini Lopez.
Not exactly a lot of cutting edge acid rock but it was a significant series of events.

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