I recently got the following e-mail about the first Telluride Bluegrass Festival:
Tom........I have told you this before but I will tell you again. I was at the first fest with Fall Creek,and,Red White and Bluegrass. When the stage wasn't finished, one of the fellas from Fall Creek came to me with a small PA system and said "please sing some songs" as there were several thousand prople getting kind of antsy, so, I did about an hour of music including some Bill Monroe, Jim and Jesse McReynolds and a bit of Steve Stills and Neil Young. Now, I am not looking for glory, but, if you ask anyone there who opened the first festival they will say Steve Westphal aka "Heartbreak Fatty". It's the truth man and if you want to be accurate you must include this in your archives. I met Fall Creek at "Canyon Records" in a small log building that summer and helped produce a soundtrack for California Public Television. They were in the planning stages at that time and asked if I would help them with the fextival. I am not seeking any type of recognition except to be credited with opening the 1st festival. Just ask any of the old hippies who might have been there if they remember a long haired hippie from Nebraska who did an hour and a half of Neil Young, Steve Stills and a bit of old time bluegrass and some will tell you about the guy who played a while to keep the audience from rioting. It was a great time and I will never forget it. Truthfully yours, Steve Westphal
Hopefully he’ll have more stories at a later date, but I thought this should be part of the archives as well. :cheers