Joan Baez - Philadelphia Folk Festival, Old Pool Farm, Schwenksville, PA, 8-25-1968

Here's the sixth and last album I'm posting from the 1968 Philadelphia Folk Festival. I'd like to post more, but this is everything that I've found. This is a set by Joan Baez.

In 1968, Baez hadn't really had any big hits yet. But she was one of the biggest names in folk music, and probably the biggest star of this festival. On two songs, she was joined on stage by the Charles River Valley Boys. Their most recent album at the time of this performance was "Beatle Country," and consisted of bluegrass versions of Beatles songs. That explains why one of the two songs they did with her was a Beatles song. Otherwise, Baez was in solo acoustic mode, as one can see from the cover image.

I'm pretty sure this is only part of her performance. The last song faded out, suggesting there was more. Plus, it seems uncharacteristic for her to end with a cover of "I've Just Seen a Face" by the Beatles, a song she never even put on record. And on the handbill for the show, she was the headliner act for the final day. She was allotted an hour of music in the schedule, a lot more that what's here. But this is what we have. If more of her set ever emerges, I'll be sure to add it in.

And speaking of lost music I'd like to add in, I definitely would like to post more albums of music from this festival, if that music can be found. According to a handbill from the festival I found at the jonimitchell.com website, there were over 30 musical acts who performed at the festival. Most of those were little known at the time, and even less well known now, so I don't think they would be interesting to many people. But there are some others I wound like to find, such as sets by Janis Ian, Dave Van Ronk, Odetta, Son House, Oscar Brand, and Jerry Jeff Walker. If anyone has any other music from the festival, please let me know so I can post that too.

This album is 36 minutes long. Like the rest of the music from this festival, the sound quality is excellent but it remains unreleased.

01 Carry It On (Joan Baez)
02 talk (Joan Baez)
03 Turquoise (Joan Baez)
04 Gentle on My Mind (Joan Baez)
05 talk (Joan Baez)
06 C'era un Ragazzo Che Come Me Amava i Beatles e i Rolling Stones (Joan Baez)
07 talk (Joan Baez)
08 What Have They Done to the Rain (Joan Baez)
09 talk (Joan Baez)
10 Suzanne (Joan Baez)
11 talk (Joan Baez)
12 Kumbaya (Joan Baez)
13 talk (Joan Baez)
14 Green, Green Grass of Home (Joan Baez with the Charles River Valley Boys)
15 talk (Joan Baez with the Charles River Valley Boys)
16 I've Just Seen a Face (Joan Baez with the Charles River Valley Boys)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/AZrgZx8D

alternate:

https://bestfile.io/en/ZCy2XdPOjVDQbHh/file

The cover photo is from this exact concert.

John Denver (plus Denver, Boise & Johnson) - Philadelphia Folk Festival, Old Pool Farm, Schwenksville, PA, 8-25-1968

Here's the fifth album I'm posting from the 1968 Philadelphia Folk Festival. Out of six albums I'm posting from the festival, this is the only one that I had posted already. So I've deleted that and I'm reposting it, to help people find all six albums together. I also found a better cover image (since it's from this exact concert). But the music is the same as before. The first part is a solo performance by John Denver on August 23, 1968, the first day of the festival. But he was still part of a folk trio, Denver, Boise and Johnson. So most of the rest is from a performance by that trio on August 25, 1968, the last day of the festival.

Since I posted this already, back in 2022, I'm just going to repost what I wrote there, with a few minor edits: 

I like to find music of famous musicians from the time before they were famous, provided it's worthy of their later career and the sound quality is excellent. There aren't a lot of cases like that, but I've posted three 1969 concerts of John Denver here, before he started to hit it big around 1971. He's a good candidate for that kind of thing, because he was singing in public and writing excellent songs well before becoming famous. For instance, his later classic "Leaving on a Jet Plane" was actually written in 1966.

The three 1969 concerts I've posted are all excellent sounding soundboard bootlegs. It turns out there's another excellent sounding soundboard bootleg of him from even earlier, 1968! Here it is.

It's actually two different recordings combined. The first nine tracks feature just Denver on solo acoustic guitar, at the Philadelphia Folk Festival on August 23, 1968. Then, two days later, he came back as part of the Denver, Boise and Johnson folk trio, at the same festival. That's here as tracks 10 to 22. 

I need to explain the history of Denver, Boise and Johnson. The group was originally a popular folk group called the "Chad Mitchell Trio." But in 1965, Chad Mitchell left for a solo career, and was replaced by John Denver. It was his first big break into the music industry. The group changed its name to just the "Mitchell Trio." Then, by 1968, the last original member had left, so they were legally required to change their name again, to "Denver, Boise and Johnson." This version didn't last long, breaking up in 1969 without releasing any albums. But that's the version that appears on this bootleg.

For the Denver, Boise and Johnson songs, Denver sang most of them, but David Boise or Michael did the lead vocals on some of them too.

This album is 42 minutes long. 

UPDATE: On April 30, 2026, I updated the mp3 download file. I removed four songs at the end that weren't actually from the festival. Instead, they were from a Denver, Boise and Johnson concert in Columbus, Ohio, in 1968. I had included them because they were on the original bootleg I took this from. The reason I removed them is because I found the entire concert they came from, and I posted that. 

01 Good Ole Friends of Mine (John Denver)
02 talk (John Denver)
03 Deal with the Ladies (John Denver)
04 Catch Another Butterfly (John Denver)
05 talk (John Denver)
06 Sticky Summer Weather (John Denver)
07 Farewell Party (John Denver)
08 talk (John Denver)
09 What's That I Hear Now (John Denver)
10 If You Had Me in Shackles (Denver, Boise & Johnson)
11 Yellow Cat (Denver, Boise & Johnson)
12 talk (Denver, Boise & Johnson)
13 Talking Vietnam Potluck Blues (Denver, Boise & Johnson)
14 talk (Denver, Boise & Johnson)
15 Business Goes On as Usual (Denver, Boise & Johnson)
16 talk (Denver, Boise & Johnson)
17 Everybody's Talkin' (Denver, Boise & Johnson)
18 talk (Denver, Boise & Johnson)
19 '68 Nixon [This Year's Model] (Denver, Boise & Johnson)
20 talk (Denver, Boise & Johnson)
21 Leaving on a Jet Plane (Denver, Boise & Johnson)
22 Love of the Common People (Denver, Boise & Johnson)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/vwFEgZSi

alternate:

https://bestfile.io/en/5zi1O5vzGm6dcam/file

The cover image is different than the one I'd used the first time I posted this album. That's because I managed to find a photograph taken from this exact concert. It's the only photo from this festival I found that was already in color.

Buddy Guy - Philadelphia Folk Festival, Old Pool Farm, Schwenksville, PA, 8-24-1968

Here's the fourth album I've found from the 1968 Philadelphia Folk Festival. It's a set by Buddy Guy.

If you look at the list of performers at this festival, this music seems out of place. Guy came to rock, with a full band, yet it was a folk festival. It must be one of the very few times songs like "I Got You (I Feel Good," originally by James Brown, were played at a folk festival! But hey, I'm not complaining. Since it seems most everything from these festivals were professionally recorded, this is one of the first live recording from Guy's long music career that has survived with excellent sound quality.

At least Guy started out in folky mode. The first three tracks here actually come from an afternoon performance at some kind of acoustic workshop. So the two songs there consisted of just Guy and an acoustic guitar. Later in his career, he performed many acoustic concerts, often with his frequently musical partner Junior Wells. But apparently this was very unusual for him at this point in his career.

The rest of the songs are from a concert that evening. That portion is 45 minutes long. In it, Guy and his band straddled the line between soul and blues. In addition to playing the James Brown song mentioned above, they also did a version of the soul classic "Knock on Wood."

This album is 51 minutes long.

01 talk (Buddy Guy)
02 Good Morning, Little Schoolgirl (Buddy Guy)
03 Rock Me Baby (Buddy Guy)
04 Instrumental (Buddy Guy)
05 talk (Buddy Guy)
06 Crazy about You Baby (Buddy Guy)
07 talk (Buddy Guy)
08 Sweet Sixteen (Buddy Guy)
09 talk (Buddy Guy)
10 I Got You [I Feel Good] (Buddy Guy)
11 Knock on Wood (Buddy Guy)
12 Call It Stormy Monday (Buddy Guy)
13 Mary Had a Little Lamb (Buddy Guy)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/BY2T8J4n

alternate:

https://bestfile.io/en/vdknhIANwJS3NmI/file

The cover photo is from this exact concert. It must have been taken during his afternoon acoustic set, since his evening performance took place in the dark. The original was in black and white, but I colorized it with the use of the Kolorize program.

Bill Monroe & the Blue Grass Boys - Philadelphia Folk Festival, Old Pool Farm, Schwenksville, PA, 8-24-1968

Here's the third album I've found of music from the 1968 Philadelphia Folk Festival. This one is a set by Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys.

Here's the introduction to his Wikipedia entry:

"William Smith Monroe (September 13, 1911 – September 9, 1996) was an American mandolinist, singer, and songwriter who created the bluegrass music genre. For this reason, he is often called the 'Father of Bluegrass.' The genre takes its name from his band, the Blue Grass Boys, who named their group for the bluegrass of Monroe's home state of Kentucky. He described the genre as 'Scottish bagpipes and ole-time fiddlin'. It's Methodist and Holiness and Baptist. It's blues and jazz, and it has a high lonesome sound.'" 

Here's the rest of the entry: 

 

Bill Monroe - Wikipedia 

 

I don't have much more to say except that the sound quality is excellent, like all the music I've found from this festival. And, like all the music from this festival, this appears to be unreleased.

Oh, and note that the first two albums I posted from this festival (the Doc Watson and Joni Mitchell sets) are from August 23rd, but this one was from August 24th.
 

This album is 27 minutes long. 

01 talk (Bill Monroe & the Blue Grass Boys)
02 Uncle Pen (Bill Monroe & the Blue Grass Boys)
03 talk (Bill Monroe & the Blue Grass Boys)
04 Blue Ridge Mountain Blues (Bill Monroe & the Blue Grass Boys)
05 talk (Bill Monroe & the Blue Grass Boys)
06 Train 45 (Bill Monroe & the Blue Grass Boys)
07 talk (Bill Monroe & the Blue Grass Boys)
08 Blue Grass Breakdown [Instrumental] (Bill Monroe & the Blue Grass Boys)
09 talk (Bill Monroe & the Blue Grass Boys)
10 Down in the Willow Garden (Bill Monroe & the Blue Grass Boys)
11 talk (Bill Monroe & the Blue Grass Boys)
12 Wayfaring Stranger (Bill Monroe & the Blue Grass Boys)
13 talk (Bill Monroe & the Blue Grass Boys)
14 Dusty Miller [Instrumental] (Bill Monroe & the Blue Grass Boys)
15 talk (Bill Monroe & the Blue Grass Boys)
16 Orange Blossom Special [Instrumental] (Bill Monroe & the Blue Grass Boys)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/d8AKnTt6

alternate:

https://bestfile.io/CMlIgQiznSgwFGv/file

I believe this is the only cover photo from this festival that wasn't actually taken at the festival. Instead, it's from the Newport Folk Festival in 1969. The original was in black and white, but I converted it to color with the use of the Kolorize program. 

Joni Mitchell - Philadelphia Folk Festival, Old Pool Farm, Schwenksville, PA, 8-23-1968

Here's the second out of six albums that I'm posting from the 1968 Philadelphia Folk Festival. This one features a short acoustic set by Joni Mitchell.

Note that while I'm posting all I have from this festival in a bunch, I'm not attempting to organize the albums into "Part 1," Part 2," and so on. That's because it was a three day festival, and I only have a couple of sets from each day. I also don't know the order of the performances. 

Joni Mitchell wasn't a big name yet in 1968, at the time of this concert. She was getting a lot of acclaim for her songwriting, and some famous musicians were already covering her songs. But she'd only released one album at the time of this concert, and that one, "Song to a Seagull," didn't make the charts. So it looks like she was only allowed a pretty short set. The official jonimitchell.com website has tons of good information. It has an article that reviewed her performance, which you can read here:

https://jonimitchell.com/library/view.cfm?id=603

According to that, she received a standing ovation, which was unusual for the festival. And the audience cheered for more, but she said she was only allowed to play five songs for 20 minutes. (Cleverly, it looks like she stretched that a bit by playing a medley of two songs at the end.) 

She only played one song ("Cactus Tree") from the sole album she'd released so far. Instead, three songs would come from her album "Ladies of the Canyon," one from "Clouds," and one from "Blue." 

This album is 26 minutes long.

01 That Song about the Midway (Joni Mitchell)
02 talk (Joni Mitchell)
03 Cactus Tree (Joni Mitchell)
04 Chelsea Morning (Joni Mitchell)
05 talk (Joni Mitchell)
06 Both Sides Now (Joni Mitchell)
07 talk (Joni Mitchell)
08 The Circle Game - Little Green (Joni Mitchell)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/B2ibjhNE

alternate:

https://bestfile.io/en/ThztLxga4BOYSSw/file

The cover photo is from this exact concert. However, the original was in black and white. I had to colorize it with the use of the Kolorize program.

Doc Watson - Philadelphia Folk Festival, Old Pool Farm, Schwenksville, PA, 8-23-1968

If you've been following this blog a while, you may have noticed that I put a special emphasis on trying to post music from big rock festivals. Here's another example of that, though it's a folk festival this time.

The Philadelphia Folk Festival is one of the longest running folk festivals in the U.S., along with the Newport Folk Festival. It started in 1962, and it continues to this day (as I write this in January 2026). I've noticed that big portions, if not all, of these festivals have been professionally recorded. However, it seems only a few sets here and there leak out to the public, and almost none of it has been officially released. I noticed that there was an unusually big amount of recordings available to the public for the 1968 festival. I found enough material for six albums, all with soundboard quality, when most years I might find zero, one, or two. So I decided to focus on 1968, especially since I think it's important to try to save and share recordings of this quality that go all the way back to the 1960s. So here's the first album, a set by Doc Watson.

Here's the Wikipedia entry about him: 

"Arthel Lane 'Doc' Watson (March 3, 1923 – May 29, 2012) was an American guitarist, songwriter, and singer of bluegrass, folk, country, blues, and gospel music. He won seven Grammy awards as well as a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. His fingerpicking and flatpicking skills, as well as his knowledge of traditional American music, were highly regarded. Blind from a young age, he performed publicly both in a dance band and solo, as well as for over 15 years with his son, guitarist Merle Watson, until Merle's death in 1985 in an accident on the family farm."

Note that this is the time period in which Merle Watson was supporting him, so he's on this recording too. 

Here's the link to the rest of the entry:

Doc Watson - Wikipedia 

This album is 26 minutes long. 

01 talk (Doc Watson)
02 When the Roses Bloom in Dixieland (Doc Watson)
03 talk (Doc Watson)
04 Anniversary Blue Yodel [Blue Yodel No. 7] (Doc Watson)
05 talk (Doc Watson)
06 Spikedriver Blues (Doc Watson)
07 talk (Doc Watson)
08 Otto Wood the Bandit (Doc Watson)
09 talk (Doc Watson)
10 Open Up Them Pearly Gates (Doc Watson)
11 talk (Doc Watson)
12 Southbound (Doc Watson)
13 talk (Doc Watson)
14 Bill Cheatham (Doc Watson)
15 talk (Doc Watson)
16 Blackberry Rag (Doc Watson)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/qGTCSydV 

alternate: 

https://bestfile.io/en/9Qg0i1qOYAxstWO/file

The cover photo is from this exact concert. The original was in black and white, but I colorized it with the use of the Kolorize program.