HIPPIEFEST: A Concert for Peace and Love, celebrates its sixth anniversary with Dave Mason, Mark Farner, Rick Derringer, Felix Cavaliere's Rascals and Gary Wright.
Dave Mason will perform hits from Traffic along with those from his impressive solo career. As the guitarist, a vocalist and one of the principal songwriters for Traffic, Mason penned one of the band's first and biggest hits in 1967, "Hole in My Shoe." The following year, the band would release their self-titled second album that would contain another classic hit by Mason, "Feelin' Alright," that would eventually be covered by several artists including Grand Funk Railroad, Joe Cocker and Three Dog Night, among others. In 1970, Mason tasted solo success with the song, "Only You Know and I Know" and in 1977, he went on to have his biggest hit with "We Just Disagree," which reached #12 on the Billboard charts. Over the years, Mason has performed and recorded with some of rock's greatest musicians including Michael Jackson, The Rolling Stones (Beggars Banquet), Eric Clapton, George Harrison (All Things Must Pass), Paul McCartney ("Listen to What the Man Said"), Fleetwood Mac, Cass Elliot and Jimi Hendrix. Mason was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a co-founder and original member of Traffic in 2004.
Shortly after its formation in 1969, Grand Funk Railroad lead singer and guitarist Mark Farner took his American band to the heights of success. They released their first album, On Time, in August of that year and followed it four months later with the release of their second album, Grand Funk. In 1970, Closer to Home -- featuring Farner's song, "I'm Your Captain (Closer to Home) went on to sell more albums that year than any other American band. As the lead singer, guitarist and songwriter, Farner and company sold out New York's Shea Stadium faster than the Beatles in 1971. From 1969 to 1974, the band would release nine consecutive studio albums that would go gold or better (five reaching platinum status). With hits such as "We're An American Band" (which would hit #1 on the Billboard charts on Mark's 25th birthday in September, 1973), "Walk Like A Man," "The Loco-Motion," "Shinin' On," "Some Kind of Wonderful" and "Bad Time" among others, the band fortified itself in rock history. Farner continues to perform solo and in the mid-90s, joined Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band for two consecutive tours. He rejoined Grand Funk for a brief stint in the late 90s.
It's doubtful that anyone will be sitting in their seats when Rick Derringer breaks into his well-known rock anthem, "Rock and Roll, Hoochie Koo." The song continues to be a staple on rock radio and was featured in several movies including The Spirit of '76, Rush, Stag, What a Girl Wants and the cult classic, Dazed and Confused. Prior to his success as a solo artist, a 17-year-old Derringer and his band The McCoys had a #1 hit in 1965 called "Hang on Sloopy." A year after its release, The McCoys would find themselves as the openers for the entire Rolling Stones American tour. In 1977, Derringer appeared on the last Led Zeppelin North American Tour and has since performed with Alice Cooper ("Under My Wheels"), Steely Dan ("Show Biz Kids" and "Chained Lightning"), KISS, Todd Rundgren, Edgar Winter, Johnny Winter and Weird Al Yankovic, among others. From 1986 to 1992, Derringer toured with Cindy Lauper and co-wrote a song from her True Colors album entitled, "Calm Inside the Storm." Before embarking on this year's "Hippiefest" tour, Derringer will be in Europe with Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band.
As the vocalist and keyboard player for the group Steven Van Zandt called, "the first rock band in the world" (Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremonies in May of 1997), Felix Cavaliere and the (Young) Rascals had three number one hits -- "Good Lovin'," "Groovin'" and "People Got To Be Free." Several other Top 20 classics include "A Girl Like You," "I've Been Lonely Too Long," "You Better Run," "It's Wonderful," "A Beautiful Morning" and "How Can I Be Sure" (the latter two of which were Top 5). Throughout the '70s, Cavaliere released a handful of solo albums and, in 1980, would score a Top 40 solo hit with "Only a Lonely Heart Sees." In June 2009, Cavaliere was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame with former writing partner and Rascals bandmate Eddie Brigati.
Although he's probably best known for his massive hit, "Dream Weaver," Gary Wright originally entered the pop music scene as the singer and keyboard player for the band Spooky Tooth in 1967. In 1970, he would perform at the famous Isle of Wight festival as a member of another band called Howl the Good. Prior to the breakup of Spooky Tooth in 1974, Gary was invited to perform piano on George Harrison's solo classic, All Things Must Pass. In 1975, Gary released his first solo album The Dream Weaver featuring the title single and "Love is Alive" - both of which would hit the #2 position on the Billboard charts and remain classic rock radio mainstays. "Dream Weaver" would sell over a million copies shortly after its release and go on to be prominently featured in three major movies including Wayne's World, The People vs. Larry Flynt and Toy Story 3. In 1981, Gary achieved his third big hit with the release of "Really Wanna Know You." Since 2008, Gary has toured with Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band. His most recent release is Connected featuring Starr, Joe Walsh and Jeff "Skunk" Baxter.
HIPPIEFEST will be at the Seminole Hard Rock Live in Hollywood, Florida on Sunday August 28, 2011.
