Did the first Glastonbury Festival happen because Michael Eavis was newly in love, and would therefore agree to anything? Did the second occur because Mr Eavis had no valid tax disc on his tractor? According to Andrew Kerr, the answer is yes to both; and he should know, because he was there. Mr Kerr was the man with the hippy dream to create an event that brought together love, mystic energy, freedom of expression and music. If the New Age has an archangel, then he is it.
Yet there is an even more fascinating story beyond these tantalising insights into the festival itself. Andrew Kerr is a man of many talents; and just as many diverse home addresses. This is a memoir worth reading.
Andrew Kerr: The 'Intolerably Hip' Prodigy of Randolph Churchill
Mr Kerr's early life, as with the rest of his autobiography, is told with remarkable candor and good humour. One of the first facts that we learn about him is that his mother tried to get him aborted. Nevertheless, he was born, in 1933, into a family that was distantly related to the Marquis of Lothian. Undiagnosed with dyslexia, he struggled through his schooling and was ridiculed as unintelligent by just about everyone.
This did not stop Sir Winston Churchill's son, Randolph, from hiring him as a researcher for his seminal biographies. Mr Kerr's colleagues, at the time, included the eminent historian Martin Gilbert. While spending hours reading through the vast collection of Churchill's personal papers, and making notes for his employer, Mr Kerr couldn't help but wonder how he had got there. After all, he had arrived as the mansion's gardener!
These chapters are laced with wonderful stories, like the Summer of Love, when he had taken a tincture of cannabis, only to discover that HRH Princess Margaret was coming for dinner. He was placed right next to her and found himself gabbling away on a 'flight of fantasy'. He guessed, in retrospect, that she must have known that he was high, but she took his conversation in good grace.
It was only after Randolph Churchill's death that Mr Kerr was asked to leave the mansion. Randolph's son, Winston, thought that Mr Kerr was 'intolerably hip'. However, he made a better impression upon Randolph's daughter. Arabella Churchill not only helped finance and organise the first Glastonbury Festival, but was running her own fields right up until her death in 2007.
Andrew Kerr: Shipwrecks, Yachts and Scoraig
At a time when every young man in Britain had to complete their National Service, Mr Kerr ended up in the navy. He never actually made it out to sea, except for a brief trip to the Isle of Wight and back. However, the inadequacy of his sailing there was more than made up for during the course of the rest of his life.
He became an accomplished yacht builder, which was an occupation that he frequently fell back upon during lean years. Though this allowed him to live in Italy and several other ports, it was not without peril. Mr Kerr was once saved from a shipwreck just minutes before it would have plunged beneath the waves. On another occasion, he was rendered bankrupt, after a contract to fix a yacht went unpaid, despite the fact that he'd reimbursed his team their wages from his own pocket.
It is obvious, reading his memoirs, that Mr Kerr's heart lives in a croft in Scotland. He and his Danish wife, Jytte had met through the Glastonbury Festival. She had fed a field full of hippies and volunteer workers at the iconic 1971 event. The couple travelled to Scoraig, on the west coast of Scotland, where they squatted in an old, deserted croft and endeavoured to become self-sufficient. Their two children were raised there and Mr Kerr appeared truly happy. Unfortunately the dream ended for him and, after a brief foray into fixing crumbling cliffs in Los Angeles, he returned to mending yachts.
Andrew Kerr: Dowsing the Energies for Glastonbury's Pyramid Stage
The rest of his life was entertaining, sometimes poignant, but always interesting to read about. However, the main lure, for anyone picking up this book, is to find out the untold history of the world famous Glastonbury Festival. It might have been held on Michael Eavis's land, but Andrew Kerr was the man with the visionary idea. He was the festival's main spiritual, ideological and practical architect. He picked out the spot by standing on the top of Glastonbury Tor and checking out the zodiac written in the landscape. He found the idea venue, caught between Saggitarius and Capricorn.
He was the one, with an obsession with Egypt, who came up with the notion of a pyramid stage. He was also the one to take dowsing rods out, across the whole valley, until he came to a spot where the earth energies pulled at the sticks. That was the place for the stage. That would be the festival's focal point.
His memoirs doesn't stint on detail. He tells his version of the story with the same frankness and hilarity that is exhibited throughout the book; but also with kindness and compassion. In many ways, reading his book is like being at the festival itself.
Intolerably Hip: The Memoirs of Andrew Kerr
Andrew Kerr
Frontier Publishing, 2011
IBSN: 978-1-872914-49-7
Jo Harrington - Jo has a BA (Hons) in History and Philosophy and a MA in History. She has a book published on the history of Wicca.
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