During a stifling hot August in 1975, Omega Productions recorded the “48 Hours in Atoka” Music Festival. The two-day outdoor music festival, recorded for KAFM Radio in Dallas, TX, was held just a few miles outside Atoka, OK on August 30 and 31, 1975. The talent included Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Jerry Lee Lewis, Freddy Fender, Jessi Colter, Larry Gatlin, Red Steagall, Hoyt Axton, David Allen Coe, Jerry Jeff Walker, Red Steagall, Freddy Weller, Don White Band, Don Williams, Johnny Duncan, Bernard & Jeff Bigby, and Debbie Campbell.
Steve Coffman and Chuck Dunaway had called Paul Christensen, President of then Omega Audio, a few days previously, alerting the company that they were hired for the project. KAFM (KFM) was the progressive country FM station at the time and wanted to broadcast the festival live. Two nights before this project, Omega had just completed recordings of Willie Nelson, Stoney Edwards, and Gary Stewart, in the “Warm-up To Atoka Festival Concert” at the Longhorn Ballroom in Dallas, TX. Willie and Dewey Groom, owner of the Longhorn, along with KFM management requested the recordings as a way to kick off the weekend live coverage of the festival.
Those two performance days were some of the craziest the company has ever experienced. This project was recorded before the company had built its first remote truck. As a result, all the equipment was set up in a temporary construction trailer immediately behind the stage. The building also served as the backstage and green room for all the musicians. The crew and performers were all crammed into an area a little larger than most bedrooms. But the recordings came off without a hitch and were aired some two hours later on the radio in Dallas. A group of runners was assigned to drive each hour-long tape to Dallas so the festivities could be aired semi-live. (There were no internet or landlines in 1975).
From the Oklahoma Historical Society: “On August 30–31, 1975, a large music festival took place in Atoka. “48 Hours in Atoka” was Oklahoma’s answer to Woodstock and other music festivals across the country. Advance tickets were only $10, and the crowd size was estimated at 40,000 people! Performers included Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Jerry Lee Lewis, Freddy Fender, Jessi Colter, Larry Gatlin, Hoyt Axton, David Allan Coe, Jerry Jeff Walker, Red Steagall, Freddy Weller, Don White Band, Don Williams, Johnny Duncan, Bernard & Jeff Bigby and Debbie Campbell. Many music historians consider this festival to be the beginning of the outlaw country music movement.”
Photos by Fred W. Marvel (Oklahoma Department of Tourism Collection, OHS), Ron McKeown, and anonymous.
