On Air: The forgotten talent of Bert Sommer

Since my childhood I am used to collect articles "to be read later, when I will have some time".

Sometimes this "when I will have some time" means to be able to read those articles after years. Literally, years. I did it for a very long time, but I lately decided to change my habits and now I am reading these famous old articles on a regular basis... And I am trying to not collect any new articles.

I've got time, after all, because I decided to find it.

I've got time, because I want to.

While reading one of these articles, about Woodstock (yes, that Woodstock: the first one in 1969, of course!), I stumbled upon the name of Bert Sommer and I was a little bit surprised, because I was sure to know a lot about the concert but I have never heard about Bert Sommer.

[Bert Sommer at Woodstock, 1969]

Now I know that he was a skinny, talented 20 years old songwriter with amazing hippie-like hair as he attended to Woodstock and that his performance was the only one getting a standing ovation. His performance was not featured in the famous movie about Woodstock and his songs were not included in the compilation released after the concert. 

His career suffered because of it. 

We can say that he has not been lucky.

And he died in 1990.

Bert Sommer has maybe been forgotten by a lot of people, but his music still is very fresh and his voice beautiful and vibrant.

Since copyright policies are very specific (and annoying) in Germany, I am not going to link a video or a playlist.

But don't miss the music of Bert Sommer, trust me.

Just google him. And let me know if you like him like I do.

ps. According to reliable sources, the hair that you can see in the first poster of the legendary musical Hair are those of Bert.

Italian version of this post - Versione italiana

Tags: Woodstock, Concert, Singer, Music, Bert Sommer