Found four never seen before pictures of the TEB!

These below are four never seen before shots of the band taken by Ray Stevenson - two at the London Kensal Green cemetery, where there was one of the first photo sessions for the "Alchemy"'s cover, and two on stage at the Isle of Wight festival (August 1969).

Now these b/w pictures are on sale at Rex Web site (go here).

 

As we know (read on this Archive at http://ghettoraga.blogspot.it/2010/01/teb-first-photo-session-by-ray_30.html), also Carolyn Looker (Glen's missus) was involved at the Kensal Green session: you can see her arm just behind the tomb...!
Other pictures of the band at the Isle of Wight festival was taken by Barry Plummer (read here), Derek Halsall and Karen Francis (read here).

no©2017 Luca Chino Ferrari (unless you intend to make a profit. In which case, ask first)   

A new pretty picture of the Third Ear Band emerged from the Net!

This is a new unknown photo of the Third Ear Band taken at the Isle of Wight festival on August 31th, 1969 by Karen Francis.

Differentely from the set taken by Barry Plummer (read here the interview with him at http://ghettoraga.blogspot.it/2011/08/brief-interview-with-barry-plummer.html) this beautiful picture (as that one already known taken by Derek Halsall) show us the stage and the band in vivid colour. 

I've got a contact with Francis, and she's been very kind to write me these memories:

"Hi Luca
What a surprise! I remember odd bits about the 1969 IOW Festival of course but not too many specifics, after all I was just 18 years old then and I'm 62 now! I do recall the impact of the whole weekend as it was so enormous in my life back then - I had hitched a lift to the docks and bought a ferry ticket, walking to the site and spent the whole three days living on doughnuts and little else.
You asked about the Third Ear Band. They did make an impression on me and that is why I took their (rather bad) photo. I was in the front 'row' of 35,000 people, a little left of centre and up against a fence in front of which was the press area and where celebs like John Lennon and Yoko Ono occasionally sat. I had a little Kodak Instamatic camera and one film (12 photos) which is why I have so few photos!

I remembered the band because they were so different - I'd not heard anything like that and, to be honest, I wasn't sure whether I liked the music or not at the time. I could pick up the fact that the origins seemed to be all over the place, a bit gypsy, a fair bit of Indian influence and very 'modern' and alternative in outlook. As a very young person who had travelled some distance to see rock bands like the Who and Moody Blues, it was rather grown up and other worldly for me I suppose. Now that I am several decades older I can see how ahead of their time this band really was - if I could whistle back in time now I would appreciate their stuff far more and indeed I do have a copy of the remastered Alchemy so you see they did make an impression :-)

I expect that you have managed to source a copy of the 1969 IOW programme for yourself but, if not, this is what the description of the band said:

"The music is the music of the Druids, released from the unconscious by the alchemical process, orgasmic in its otherness, religious in its oneness, communicating beauty and magic via abstract sound whilst playing without ego enables the musicians to reach a trance-like state, a 'high' in which the music produces itself. This is the aim of the Third ear; to act as carriers of consciousness and to play a music that being non-conscious is an organic synthesis of all musics "...each piece is as alike or unalike as blades of grass or clouds".

I had no idea what that meant, still don't :-) 

I enjoy photography but am, and always have been, an amateur. I take photos of wildlife for pleasure, that's all [check her wonderful photo blog at  http://butenature.wordpress.com/ ].

My photo is rubbish in my opinion but feel free to use is it if you wish.
Cheers

Karen"

Rubbish or not, dear Francis, I'm sure this is a really precious gift for all the TEB fans around the world!

      

  The original page of the festival programme dedicated to the TEB.

no©2013 Luca Ferrari (unless you intend to make a profit. In which case, ask first)

Brief interview with Barry Plummer, English photographer took pictures of the TEB at the Isle of Wight Festival

Barry Plummer is a well-known English photographer from the Sixties. He has taken hundred photos of famous and less famous musicians (check it at his Web site at http://barryplummer.moonfruit.com/) and he's an important witness of that age.
Because he took some photos of the TEB at the legendary 1969 Isle of Wight festival (read a report at http://www.ukrockfestivals.com/iow1969.html) I've contacted and asked him some questions.

Barry Plummer on 2010 with his wine and winners cup.

1. You have been one of the photographer at the famous 1969 IOW festival. How did you was involved with? What do you remember about the location and the mood of that legendary event?
"I was photographing the festival for Disc & Music Magazine, a music weekly, to get the island is about 30 minute ferry ride from the mainland and then a bus ride to the other end of the island for the festival site. I think the mood was everyone waiting for Bob Dylan to play, when it was time for him to go on stage they filled the press area with chairs to seat the VIPS such as John Lennon, Ringo Starr, George Harrison and wives /girl friends. I also saw Keith Richards at sometime in the audience watching Fairport Convention".

2. How many photos of the TEB you took that day? Are still available? Where? How much it costs?
"I only took 5 photos B/W. Just in case any one would ask for a picture in the future, I am sending 2 pics for you to use on the website no charge (if you want to send me something maybe a tee shirt or baseball cap something Italian as the cost of cashing small cheques !!)".

Richard Coff on stage (photo: Barry Plummer).

3. Where the picture have been published?
"As far as I can remember they have only been recently used on the cd by Mooncrest Records "Hymn to the Sphynx" a few years back 2001. They may have been used before, but out of the thousands publications I have had of all the bands I've photographed...".  

4. Do you remember something about the concert the band played? Any particular memories on the band? In the backstage? After the concert?
"I don't have any memories. I just took about 6 photos of all the folk acts on that afternoon and audience pics outside the arena".

TEB photographed that day by Barry Plummer.

5. Did (do) you like their music? What kind of music did you enjoy at that time? And now? 
"I have never listened to their music not being a folk type, musical taste would Zepp, Floyd, Free, Fleetwood Mac, Eagles and now still listen to the old 70s music! A modern band I like is Muse...".
 

no©2011 Luca Ferrari