It was August 15th, 16th, and 17th 1969. The Woodstock Music and Art Fair was going on in upstate New York. The iconic, historic gathering of more than half a million young people represented my generation in many ways. I was nineteen. That summer weekend yours truly was sequestered in the U.S. Navy Recruit Training Center in San Diego...boot camp.
Not only did I not attend Woodstock, I couldn't have gone if I wanted to. And, truth be known, would probably not have made the journey anyway. Not due to lack of desire, but because of simple geographics and practicality (I'm a California kid). I wasn't at Woodstock, most of us weren't. But, we were all there in spirit, especially after the soundtrack and documentary came out in the theatres (in cinerama) a few months later. It is still a big part of my DVD library today. And, I dust it off every few years and watch the director's cut, usually solo. In fact, I still have several tracks from the soundtrack residing on my iPod.
For most folks under 50 years old, Woodstock is simply an old news story. A short feature on the evening news documenting music artists playing a concert in front of 500,000 hippies wallowing in mud and squalor, bathing naked in a nearby pond, smoking pot, and dancing like Elaine on Seinfeld. Everyone had long scraggly hair (male and female) bell bottom pants, tie dye t-shirts, love beads...and, a smile on their face.
Director Ang Lee's Taking Woodstock is coming out soon. I haven't heard or seen any reviews yet, but most of us are looking forward to seeing it. At least most of us who are over 50. In the meantime, I highly recommend renting or buying the documentary Woodstock (director's cut) for an excellent representation of this event. I can't say for certain that the upcoming movie or the doc film are accurate considering I wasn't there in person. But it's worth a look.
Something to think about. Most of the artists who spent time on the Woodstock stage are still around and are still playing and selling music...Carlos Santana, Crosby, Stills, and Nash, The Who, Joan Baez, Neil Young, Joe Cocker, Grateful Dead, and others. Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin were there as well. The Beatles, Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, and Led Zepplin declined invitations for attend.
It was just a few moments in time over forty years ago, but for some reason, still represents something about that time period more succinctly than anything else. Woodstock was and is simply Three Days of Peace and Love. With all those people in one place, the logistical mess, the weather, the mud, the lack of food and facilities...there were no riots, no fights, no melee, no nothing like you see today at the most modest music festivals. Times have changed. I only hope the new movie "gets it" like it was meant to be.
Thanks, Max!
