"I've seen the rod of His wrath, and have been beaten with it": Glenn Schwartz was set to be one of the great guitar heroes of the 70s – but then he was lost to a horrific religious cult

Artistic illustration of Glenn Schwartz as a church stained glass window.

Glenn Schwartz stands before 80,000 people and he knows what’s coming next. It’s Saturday December 28, 1968, and the first day of the Miami Pop Festival is in full swing. The ads promise three days of “Beautiful Music”, and for the next 72 hours the Gulfstream Park Racetrack in Hallandale, Florida will host the likes of Iron Butterfly, Steppenwolf, Canned Heat and Fleetwood Mac, as well as Glenn’s own band, Pacific Gas & Electric.

This feature originally appeared in Classic Rock 217, published in October 2015. (Image credit: Future)