Woodstock: Back to the Garden
Do you still have a pair of mud-encrusted jeans preserved in the attic? Send your photos from the festival or of other memorabilia to dale@ncpr.org. We'll attach them along with your remembrances to this post.
Labels: 1960s, culture wars, geofeed, live music
posted by Dale Hobson @ 8/17/2009
5 comments
5 Comments:
I want to thank Dale for setting up this blog! When I knew that the 40th anniversary was on its way I thought, "so what? Peace and love... it was just a dream that some of us had" (isn't that from a Joni Mitchell song?)
But, you know it really was a big moment in history, stuck between the terrible assassinations of MLK and RFK and the massacre of students just like me at Kent State... it was the defining rock concert, not only for my generation, but who knows... forever?
So, really... were you actually there? Do you have any actual memories of the place? Let me know... maybe I'll get you on the air Wednesday PM (if you want)... if not, just share them here.
Me, I was in 19 and in Ypsilanti, Michigan, helping to assemble 1970 Ford Mavericks by squeezing the shock absorbers together as they came off the assembly line.
I remember hearing about Woodstock as it was happening... I remember that love was in the air.... I remember that I really thought there was a sea change in our culture. But I could have been wrong.
This is not a true Woodstock reminiscence as I was not actually at the "festival".
In August 1969, I was a student working for the summer as a Canadian Customs Officer at the Ogdensburg-Prescott international bridge. My principal job was to interview people as they entered Canada by car but this was a time long before 9/11 so the entire customs procedure was a bit more relaxed than it is today - to say the least.
I clearly remember being on duty on the Sunday afternoon of the Woodstock festival (August 17, I think)and having car after car coming from downstate New York pull up for questionning and the occupants almost without exception would be really frazzled. They were talking about encountering some massive traffic tie-up on the New York State Thruway. There were stories of cars parked all over the freeway and people everywhere.
All these people I was talking with were so relieved to be away from there and back up north where things were a lot quieter. And they all asked if I knew what that was all about. Of course, I didn't (although I do recall having vaguely heard something a big music festival taking place somewhere in New york State).
Only much later did I realize that those encounters that afternoon at the bridge were to be my own personal little connection to the Woodstock generation.
Anyway, that's my little story and I'm sticking with it.
Hank Hofmann
Ottawa
I was also not there. At age fifteen, my parents threatened to lock me in the closet rather than have me hitching down with no ticket. You could tell who did go in my class, though. They were the ones who wore mud-soaked jeans around Potsdam for weeks thereafter. They also claimed massive bragging rights and 10,000 cool points for having been in the crowd. I notice over the years a steady upcreep in the number of people who claim the glory. The original crowd estimate must have been off by several million. Either that or, if you smoked enough, just watching the movie at the Roxy qualified you retroactively.
But membership in the Woodstock Nation is an idea that doesn't come from having been there. The vision of "The Peaceable Kingdom" has long legs in American history. The back-to-the-landers had their antecedents at Oneida, and in Potsdam for that matter--the Union community fouded there in 1804 were of kindred spirit. Art, politics and lifestyle combined in similar ways as the Bohemians shaded into the post-war Beats, into the Hippies. It's all as American as "The Star-Spangled Banner"--as played by Jimi Hendrix. So even though I missed the show, I "wave my freak flag high."
All I can really say is a few things
1-Some of the best music was not popularized. Janis Joplin, the Band, Creedence and, of course, a little-known musician Bert Sommers,
2-I still carry my tickets in my wallet since then.
3-We went with a blanket, a pillow, and a 2 lb Kosher salami.
4-and we went just for the music!!!
Thank you,
Bernie Witek
Was I at Woodstock? Well... not exactly. I drove down Friday after work with my younger brother Steve and his friends. The lineup of bands including the Who and Jefferson Airplane was just too good to pass up. We met my girlfriend in Liberty, got stuck in the traffic, and pulled off and pitched our tents before the rain started. Saturday morning, Steve and his friends took my car to see what was going on and didn't come back! We could have walked but decided to stay at the campsite. Steve and company finally rolled in late Saturday night and we left Sunday morning.
Last Wednesday, I finally got there, forty years later. My grown daughter and I saw the museum and a concert at Bethel Woods, a beautiful, new facility. What most impressed me were the stories we heard about the generosity of the local farmers and townspeople in 1969. The young people got the credit for a successful weekend, but I think there was a major contribution from our parents generation too.
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