Festivals - Part 11

Celebration of Life, Louisiana

In June 1971, almost two years after Woodstock, promoters in Louisiana planned the biggest rock festival ever, an 8-day extravaganza featuring a galaxy of stars like B.B. King, the Beach Boys, Miles Davis, Pink Floyd, Chuck Berry, Ike & Tina Turner, and many others.

(Photo by LIFE photographer Bill Ray)

However, locals at the festival site succeeded in getting it banned, so it had to move, and then the same thing happened and it had to move again.  The final move was to a tiny farming town called McCrea, Louisiana, on the banks of the Atchafalaya River, only three days before the festival was due to start, which was an impossibly short time to set things up.

Everything that could go wrong did.  There was not enough food, water or sanitary facilities.  Drugs were plentiful, of course.  Police blocked people from coming in, resulting in lines of cars stretching for miles.  Finally, the police realized that the people in the lines of cars had no food, water, or sanitary facilities, either.  So the police gave up and let everyone in – an estimated 60,000 people.

June in Louisiana is hot and humid, and there was no shade on the festival site.  A lot of clothing came off, providing a bonanza for the mosquitoes.  While putting up scaffolding for the stage, the scaffolding collapsed and a pole impaled one of the workers clear though his body.  He was taken to a hospital and apparently survived, but it was an ominous start to the festival.

(Photo by LIFE photographer Bill Ray)

The only relief from the heat was the adjacent Atchafalaya River.  Locals didn't swim in the Atchafalaya – it's too big, strong, swift, and dangerous.  But people at the festival flocked there.  As it turned out, at least three people drowned.

(Photo by LIFE photographer Bill Ray)

Others covered themselves with mud, which was plentiful, and then washed it off in the river.  Many of the bands cancelled, though others did arrive and play.  Everyone now agrees that 8 days was too long for a rock festival, especially in such a location with almost no facilities.  Rolling Stone called the festival "one of the truly epic debacles in live music history."  Stephen Fromholtz, a singer-songwriter who was part of Stephen Sills' band, said "Folks died in that swamp.  It was nasty-nasty.  Festival of death, seemed like to me."

(Photo by LIFE photographer Bill Ray)

A final note on why the Atchafalaya River is so powerful.  It's explained in the book The Control of Nature by John McPhee, which I highly recommend.  The book covers three cases of man trying to control nature.  One of these is the Atchafalaya.  Big rivers like the Mississippi dump silt at the river's mouth until it builds up too much; then the river changes course to dump the silt somewhere else.  That's what forms a river delta.  The Atchafalaya carries some of the Mississippi's flow from 300 miles above New Orleans to the Gulf of Mexico.  If left unchecked, the entire Mississippi would have changed course into the Atchafalaya, leaving New Orleans dry.  So, the Army Corps of Engineers has blocked most of that flow with dams, levees and other structures.  However, the Atchafalaya still drains 30 percent of the Mississippi River's water.  30 percent of the Mississippi is a lot of water.

Protests - Part 10

Firemen of La Coruña, Spain

Previously, we saw some Spanish firemen protesting in Asturia, Spain in 2012.  But they were not the first Spanish firemen to protest naked.

In 2006, firefighters gathered outside the headquarters of the provincial council of the province of La Coruña, in the northwest corner of Spain.

The firemen were demanding a labor agreement and a salary increase.  They chanted slogans such as "Without a labor agreement we are naked."

Above, our view is blocked by the signs they are holding up ...

but this enterprising photographer got a good view behind the scenes.

And another photographer captured a moment when a few firemen raised the helmets that were protecting their modesty.

This is an excerpt from a Spanish TV news program covering the protest.  ¡Hola!

Gods, Myths and Heroes - Part 4

Samson

In this series, I aim to cover myths from many different cultures.  Just as the ancient Greeks and Romans and Vikings had their myths, the ancient Near Eastern tribes had their myths.  Some of these got written down in what we now call the Bible.

Whether you believe that these Biblical stories are true or not (I don't), some of them are powerful and inspiring, just as other ancient myths are.  Western artists, because of their Christian heritage, have often drawn upon these stories.  Samson has been a favorite for artists to depict nude, because he's strong and muscular.

This is Samson's Youth by Léon Joseph Florentin Bonnat, 1891, depicting Samson killing a lion with his bare hands.  The story, from Judges 14, sounds remarkably similar to the Greek myth of Herakles (Hercules) killing a lion with his bare hands.  Scholars think that both stories derived from a common source, an even older Near Eastern myth.

This is a statue of Samson and the lion at Prague Castle in Prague, Czech Republic.  The water is actually coming out of the lion's mouth, an unlikely source for water, so you can be excused for what you thought Samson was doing.

Another favorite artistic subject is Samson killing Philistines with the jawbone of an ass, as recounted in Judges 15.  This is Samson Slaying a Philistine by Pierino da Vinci, 1551-1552, in the Palazzo Vecchio, Florence.

Above is Samson Slaying a Philistine by Giambologna, 1562, in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.

Another view of the Giambologna sculpture, with a better view of the jawbone of the ass, not to mention Samson's ass.

But, of course, the most famous story about Samson is Samson and Delilah.  In Samson and Delila by German impressionist painter Max Liebermann, 1909, we see Delilah cutting off Samson's hair, which is the source of his strength.  Samson and Delilah look very much like Edwardian-era Europeans.

And in Samson and Delilah by American artist Michael Aviano, 2008, above, Samson and Delilah look very much like 21st century Americans.  Funny how that works.

After Delilah betrayed Samson by cutting off his hair, the Philistines blinded him and put him to work grinding grain, as shown in Samson Turning the Mill by Maurice Mitrecey, 1893.

But hair grows back, and of course Samson got his revenge by pulling down the temple of Dagon and killing all the Philistines in it.  There are many artists' depictions of this, but Samson is not nude in any of them.  However, Samson's clothes are so diaphanous that he might as well be nude in Samson Shattering the Pillars of the Temple by Maartin van Heemskerck, c. 1550-1560, in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.

Next time: the Greek/Roman version of the strongman: Hercules.

College Streaking - Part 13

Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi

We continue our un-coverage of the college student streaking craze in the spring of 1974, in alphabetical order by state.

Northern Michigan University, Marquette, Michigan, March 1974 (above).  The accompanying article quotes a spectator: "I like watching because it's the first time I've seen guys not ashamed to look at another guy's body."

Eastern Michigan University, Ypsilanti, Michigan, March 1974.  These streakers remind us that streaking goes back at least as far as Lady Godiva.

University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, March 1974.  

More University of Michigan streakers.

A University of Michigan streaker with a bullhorn.

And here he is again.

From the University of Michigan student newspaper, the Michigan Daily, March 13, 1974.

A week later, another Michigan Daily article.  The local bookstore offered 50% off to buyers willing to get naked, and 50 students took them up on the offer.

Moorhead State College (now Minnesota State University, Moorhead), Moorhead, Minnesota, on March 11, 1974.

Not all places were so tolerant of streaking.  On March 7, 1974, at the University of Southern Mississippi, six men were arrested while streaking past a women's dorm.  The streakers in this photo seem to have escaped into the woods.

More streaking to come.

Vintage Athletes - Part 12

Eddie LeBaron

Eddie LeBaron (1930-2015) was a quarterback for the Washington Redskins and Dallas Cowboys.  These photos are from a set taken by LIFE photographer Hank Walker in 1958 called "Eddie La Barron [sic] of the Washington Redskins Football Team."  None of these photos were published in the magazine.

Here, LeBaron is casually naked in the locker room, talking to a couple of guys, possibly reporters, after a game.  Note how short LeBaron is: 5 feet, 7 inches tall.

In the remaining photos, LeBaron is getting dressed, but someone (a manager? an owner?) is talking to another naked player while LeBaron looks on

The unidentified other player turns a bit and we get to see what he's got.  Nobody is concerned that a photographer is snapping away.  They knew that magazines like LIFE never published frontal nudity.  Of course, they couldn't know that one day, the LIFE photo archive would become publicly available on the Internet.

No doubt, photographer Hank Walker was concentrating on getting shots of Eddie LeBaron in the locker room and may not even have noticed the other player's exposure at the time.

We wrap up with LeBaron tying his tie.  Despite his small size, in 1958 he was the top-rated quarterback in the NFL.  In 1959 he retired from the Redskins, but in 1961 the new Dallas Cowboys team lured him out of retirement to become their first starting quarterback.  He retired again in 1963 and became a sports announcer for CBS.  Then he got an LL.B. degree and practiced law.  So he was not just a dumb jock.

Not the Same Old Song - Part 3

You're Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile

I hate the original version of You're Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile, from the musical Annie, sung by a bunch of little girls who can't sing.  I like this version much better, sung by Harry Connick, Jr. in a smooth retro style appropriate to the song.  And for your enjoyment, I've added some visuals of guys not fully dressed but who have great smiles.

Hiking - Part 9

Mountain Climbers

We've already seen hikers who pose naked on top of a summit for a photo.  Most of those places had trails to the top and were not technically challenging.  Today we consider some real mountains.

This is Killian Jornet in 2012 atop Mont Blanc, Western Europe's highest mountain at 4809 m (15,777 ft).  He got naked to protest climber equipment regulations.

Here's 18-year-old English student Ben Boleyn in 2014 atop Mt. Kilimanjaro, Africa's highest mountain at 5,895 m (19,341 ft).  Although the climb is not technically difficult, the altitude makes it challenging.  Ben stripped after a fellow climber bet him 500 Tanzanian shillings (about 18 pence) that he wouldn't.  The climb was to raise money for a children's hospital, and he raised hundreds of pounds after posting this photo on Facebook.

Aleister Crowley is pictured above in a hot spring on the return from the 1902 first attempt to climb K2, the world's second-highest mountain at 8609 m (28,245 ft) on the Pakistan-China border.  The expedition reached 21,000 feet before turning back.  Crowley was an English occultist.  He published a volume of verse described by one critic as "the most disgusting piece of erotica in the English language."  He took many lovers, both male and female, and practiced a form of sex magic.  One newspaper called him "the wickedest man in the world."

But let's talk about the ultimate mountain: Mt. Everest.  Above is English climber George Mallory (at right) at Everest base camp in 1922.  At that time, no one had ever reached the summit of Everest.  Mallory is the climber who, when asked why he wanted to climb Mt. Everest, replied, "Because it's there."  Note that not only is Mallory naked; his fellow climber at left has on a jacket but no pants.  They may have just forded a stream.

Some sources call Mallory "eccentric".  He liked hiking naked (not just on Everest).  He was on close terms with several members of the Bloomsbury group of artists and writers, many of whom were gay.  Everyone considered him extremely good-looking.  Lytton Strachey wrote, "Mon Dieu! George Mallory!  My hand trembles, my heart palpitates ... he’s six foot high, with the body of an athlete by Praxiteles and a face – oh incredible – the mystery of Botticelli, the refinement and delicacy of a Chinese print."

But it was Lytton Strachey's brother James whom Mallory had an affair with, referred to as "l'affaire George" by Bloomsbury members.  In 1909 Mallory wrote to James, apparently breaking off the affair: "There has never really been anything to say since the day when I told you that I loved you. Am I to repeat continually the wearisome news that I want to kiss you."  He asked James to forget that they were ever lovers and hoped that James would regard him "as an ordinary friend."

A few years later, Mallory got married, apparently happily, and had three children.  In 1914, writing to Lytton Strachey about his impending marriage, he said: "It can hardly be a shock to you that I desert the ranks of the fashionable homosexualists (and yet I am still in part of that persuasion)."

The photo of Mallory above is by artist Duncan Grant, another gay Bloomsbury Group member.

Here's another photo of Mallory by Duncan Grant.

Eccentric or not, Mallory was considered the best mountain climber in the world.  After two failed attempts to climb Mt. Everest, he made a third attempt in 1924 with climbing partner Sandy Irvine.  They were last seen near the summit and never returned.  Years later, in 1999, Mallory's body was found not far below the summit.  The unanswered question: did he reach the summit of Everest 29 years before Edmund Hillary?

Mallory was not the only naked Everest mountaineer.  Above, Glen Saunders on the road to Everest base camp in 2005.  Base camp elevation is 5,364 m (17,598 ft).

Ivan Serra and a friend atop Kala Patthar mountain near Everest base camp, a mere hill at 5,644 m (18,519 ft), with a view of Mt. Everest in the distance.

This 1996 Polish climbing magazine cover shows Mariusz Kubielas on the west ridge of Everest.  Note the uncensored frontal view.  Kubielas was a city councilman at the time, and the photo caused a scandal back home.

We end with Jake Gyllenhaal on the set of the 2015 movie Everest, about a disastrous 1996 climbing expedition that was engulfed by a blizzard.  This is a scene of him banging on a frying pan in base camp to wake up the other climbers.  Some scenes were actually shot on Mt. Everest, but this one was shot in Rome, so it was presumably nice and warm for his nude scene.

Two final notes:

1. Everyone knows that Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay were the first men to reach the summit of Mt. Everest.  It is less widely known that Hillary was the first man to pee on the summit of Mt. Everest.  He later wrote that, having been warned about dehydration, "Tenzing and I had spent a good part of the previous night quaffing copious quantities of hot lemon drink and, as a consequence, we arrived on top with full bladders. Having just paid our respects to the highest mountain in the world, I then had no choice but to urinate on it."  Well, when you've got to go, you've got to go.

2. In 2006, a Nepali Sherpa named Lakpa Tharke was the first person to strip naked on the summit of Mt. Everest.  He stayed naked for 3 minutes while fellow climbers took pictures.  Various sources said the temperature was -10 degrees, -40 degrees, and "subzero".  The stunt was condemned by the Nepali Mountaineering Association because some Nepalis regard Mt. Everest as sacred.  The photos don't seem to have made it onto the Internet (I looked).

Fun fact: If the temperature was -40 degrees, was that Celsius or Fahrenheit?  Both.  -40 C = -40 F.

Boys and Their Balls - Part 7

Tennis

Tennis has been played for a long time.  In the 1500s, King Henry VIII liked to play tennis, and he had a tennis court at Hampton Court Palace.

Edweard Muybridge's stop-motion photographs in 1887 included this guy hitting a tennis ball.

Brothers Fred and William Ritter in the 1930s.  I saw this photo attributed to Dave Martin of San Francisco, but that can't be right, because he didn't start his physique photography career until the 1950s.

But Dave Martin did take this photograph of Perry Stevenson, probably a local college student, like many of Martin's models.

This is Austrian player Thomas Muster, who had been ranked the #1 tennis player in the world in 1996.  Later that year, he played an exhibition match against Yannick Noah in Pörtschach, Austria (Muster won).  It turned out to be an exhibition in more ways than one.  After the match, to support a children's charity, Muster auctioned off his tennis racket.  Then he started auctioning off his clothes.

He kept stripping off and auctioning his clothes, in full view of the crowd, until he had nothing on but his jockstrap.  The auction raised $5,600.  I wonder how much more he could have raised if he had auctioned his jockstrap, too?

Top-ranked players who have recently been photographed naked include Swiss player Stan Wawrinka, above, for the 2015 ESPN body issue ...

and Czech player Tomáš Berdych for Cosmopolitan magazine, also in 2015.  I score these guys love-love (that's a tennis joke).

We end with French player Arnaud di Pasquale, bronze medal winner at the 2000 Olympics, demonstrating some forehand-backhand action.