25 years ago today, September 22, 1985, was the first Farm Aid concert, held at Memorial Stadium. According to the Farm Aid site:
Farm Aid started as an idea at the Live Aid Concert when Bob Dylan said on stage, “Wouldn’t it be great if we did something for our own farmers right here in America?” Willie Nelson, Neil Young and John Mellencamp agreed that family farmers were in dire need of assistance and decided to plan a concert for America. The show was put together in six weeks and was held on September 22, 1985 in Champaign, Illinois before a crowd of 80,000 people. It raised over $9 million for America’s family farmers. Performers included Bob Dylan, Billy Joel, B.B. King, Loretta Lynn, Roy Orbison, Tom Petty and many more.
NPR’s The Record music blog has a story about it today, and there’s an interesting discussion going on at Illinois Loyalty.
Have personal recollections of that day? Feel free to share in the comments section.