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Country. Although, thousands remained on the 600 acre dairy farm, pitching in on cleanup or weighting of the crowd. The c festival site is near the biggest town monticello nearby. But before it was over, something happened in monticello. Residents and resorts empty their cupboards for the kids. Merchants were stunned by their politeness. Polite. That is about what i can say. But you did not sell any shoes . Not too many, but they were happy here. I think they are a Wonderful Group of kids. I have never met so many that were so patient, so courteous, and understanding under the conditions we had here the last three days. In the beginning, there was a great deal of apprehension, but right now, i can say that the attitude of the town has changed for these young men and women. They took a lot of aggravation and inconvenience of the average person that they would not take. Unfortunately, because of the press coverage being so jaundiced, not many people would learn what monticello learned. Suffice it to say it was not a disaster area. There were 450,000 young people here with no conveniences, a few police, but no violence, not even arguments in the midst of a 12 hour traffic jam. Abc News Coverage from august of 1969. Joining us from lawrence, kansas, david farber, professor of history at the university of kansas. We appreciate you being with us. Lets talk about ethel, pennsylvania, 50 miles from new york city. What was woodstock . I think woodstock was a surprise to the entire nation. It started one way and ended in a different way. It started as three days of peace and music. It was going to be a fourprofit using festival, starting some of the biggest names in rocknroll. It was like many other festivals in the minds of promoters, but two days and, it became different, a free concert in which some 150,000 people showed up, almost all of them young people 450,000 people showed up, almost all of them young people who traveled over rain, gridlock, lack of food, and it showed the nation what young people were capable of. Why was this dairy farm in new york selected for the site . Well, that dairy farm in new york outside of bethel was not supposed to be what was happening with woodstock. The festival was first maybe going to be in the woodstock area, then down in the neighborhood not too far from woodstock, permits were not given, town people decried what was happening, and with less than a month ago, a dairy farmer in new york said, alright, i am willing to let you use my farm. With one month to go, they had to build a stage, sound systems, lighting, figure out how to create fences, and in a spontaneous way, created the woodstock Music Festival. What did the neighbors think of the dairy farmer . Well, i think a lot of people in that vicinity were not sure what to make a what would happen at maxs dairy farm in new york city, outside of new york city. There was a lot of concern. There was a lot of fear. There was a sense of what the unknown could bring. I think a lot of neighbors were furious with max for agreeing to do this, but over time, i think most of those townspeople and Community Residents were won over, but not at the beginning. Our guest is david farber. We will get to your calls in a moment. First, look at one of the moments that became part of the Counterculture Movement. Miles northeast of here. Woodstock, new york was a bohemian community. A lot of musicians lived there off and on, including bob dylan, richie havens, van morrison. They call the Company Woodstock ventures. They started looking for a place for the festival. They could not find a place in woodstock that was large enough. They found an Industrial Park in the town of wallkill. They started advertising. They started creating art installations and everything was going smoothly. The locals found that what they were doing and it wasnt going to be a 50,000 person festival after all. The town of wallkill rewrote its laws to outlaw the festival. That left Woodstock Ventures with about four weeks to find another location. When they came to this property, it was a perfect shape, perfect size for the rock festival they wanted to have. The rest is history. The background on woodstock. As you look at the names of the people who performed, arlo guthrie, the grateful dead, janis joplin, Creedence Clearwater revival, jefferson airplane, what rot all of these musicians to this location . Brought all of these musicians to this location. It was an allstar roster. It was a Music Festival not far from new york city that many thought would be a great launching pan and put them in front of a lot of people. They hoped to make some money performing. It was one musician signed up and it lowered another. There was a snowball effect, a few of the most major names, the stones and the beatles, were not there. One of the myths by people who think about woodstock is it became a place of violence and disruption. That wasnt the situation, was it . What surprised the nation and went against what the mass media had been promoting was woodstock turned out to be despite some dire conditions and incredibly peaceful assemblage of 400,000 people who figured out how to get along, not let the tensions around, the lack of water and lack of food, they shared what they had. They worked with each other. They made an incredible event that became something they never forgot. What is remarkable is how this spread it to nearly half a Million People. You can see the crowds in the film was shot. They expected 200,000 people to travel to bethel, new york. There was no social media, no cell phones. How did word spread about this event . Its a real testament to how the countercultural and use culture were organized at the time. There were no advertisements in the mainstream media. A lot of the word got out through the alternative press. There was an underground press at that point. Any College Towns had them. They did advertise in those places. It was talked about on fm radio stations. Young people had their own media and it worked. Word got out far faster and spread wider than promoters ever expected. What was the Counterculture Movement . It did not have membership cards and there was no roster. And entitled Different Things at the same time by 1969. It was the protest culture, ranging from people seeking racial justice, against the war in the at the environmental movement. They were creating an alternative politics. Even more, it was a celebration of alternative values or just america living up to the values it proclaimed. What should it freedom feel like . What does social justice live like . This is what they wanted to build, a different america built on core values. For those watching on cspan3, there is an oral history. Who was he . Already cornfield was one of the most important people at putting woodstock together. He was already in his mid20s. They were all in their mid20s. He had good connections in the Music Industry despite his age. He was in for goal to them signing up some of the big names. He had those connections. Here is part of that oral history as he reflects on what they put together in 1969. The legacy of woodstock is in 500 years, they are going to remember the event. When they listed the top 20 events of mankind, woodstock was number two. It was second to the man landing on the moon. As you hear that, what is your reaction . I think he is right to take pride in what he helped accomplish. We can have an interesting debate about that. In 1969, it felt to Many Americans like an extraordinary event. It was a time of polarization, when violence was starting to become the norm. There they were, 500,000 young people peacefully assembled, trying to do something wonderful. It really did surprise the people who attended and it shared up a lot of americans that young people could gather together like that and create history in a peaceful way. We have divided our phone lines. If you attended woodstock, 202 7488000. If you are 55 and over and may not have attended but she remember the conversation about woodstock, 202 7848001. All others, 202 7488002. What is the most important thing as a historian that we need to understand in regard to what happened in bethel, new york . I think woodstock has remained an important historical event for two reasons. It was a hallmark of music history. If youve seen the movie, if you watched those bands perform, this was incredible event. Richie havens played that freedom peace. The jimi hendrix starspangled banner, these are Musical Moments that will live on and on. It was an event that marked in some ways the Comingout Party for the counterculture across america. People knew about hippies in San Francisco and the use culture of music, many were fearful of the drug experiences regarding marijuana and lsd. People saw another side of the counter culture. Here were young people who were trying to live different values, who were trying to share and cooperate. This was the best face the counterculture could show america. We have the trailer from the film that was released in 1970. Lets watch. An incredible film about an incredible event is back. Can you dig that . Its really amazing. Its like an unbelievable thing. Woodstock, with a cast of half a million outrageously friendly people. Its a dirty mess. Woodstock, where it all began. Casey kasem has since passed away. He was an iconic voice of radio. The film came out in 1970. The organizers sold 185,000 tickets. What were the prices . What did they do win half a million showed up . When half a million showed up . Thats one of the most important things to ponder. It was just supposed to be a music concert. I think it was 18 if you wanted to attend all three days. The audience came from new york in the midatlantic area. What the promoters didnt expect was another 300,000 people showing up. The promoters werent prepared for those numbers because of the lastminute preparations. They didnt have fencing and ticket booths you would see in a Music Festival today. People came from all directions. The promoters just didnt even try to collect fees. They announced from the stage that this would be a free concert. There had never been a free concert of this scale. It was this transition from a commercial forprofit concert to a free event where hundreds of thousands of people showed up and had to take care of themselves, thats when woodstock became woodstock. Lets bring in our viewers. Were you there 50 years ago . I was. I was 16 years old. I was working at a summer camp area. We all quit and said we are going to woodstock. Let me come. I have seen the documentary in the 1980s. The one thing that i noticed in the documentary, it did not grasp the real hold of what was going on. It was a vietnam war protest for the most part. I was kind of disappointed about that. We will get a response from our guest. Do you remember what you ate and were you slept . Peanut butter sandwiches. People had like its. We slept right there. Your response . What bob said about the Peanut Butter sandwiches rings true. People brought what they could. The larger context is interesting. 1969 marked a hallmark of the polarization of the war in vietnam. There were massive demonstrations. Woodstock was not fundamentally political. Abbie hoffman tried to get on stage. The bands in the festival organizers did not treat this as a political event. It was not fundamentally about the war in vietnam, even though that overshadowed what happened. It was a counterpoint to the anger and frustration and fears Many Americans had. It was set up as a nonpolitical event. And is in charlotte. Good morning. Thank you for cspan. I have one question. One of my great regrets is i did not make it to woodstock. I had an understanding there was a group called 10 years after and they did a song called going home. I dont think was ever listed. Can you clear that up . There were 30 or so ask that performed. Acts that performed. People get the two things mixed up. I know the grateful dead for reasons that might have had to do with what substances they were ingesting did not sign the waiver to be in the film. Some did not get into the documentary film. I dont know the particulars of 10 years after. Thats why some favorite bands dont show up in the documentary. Drugs were prevalent woodstock . The use of drugs were prevalent . Yes. There was a lot of marijuana smoked. You only had to be within 100 yards of the stage to get high. There were so many marijuana joints being passed around. Cannabis was omnipresent. It was being shared extensively. There was a famous story about lsd at the concert. By 1969, it wasnt something most gun people had ever tried. It was fairly easily available and a lot of people tried it for the first time at woodstock. It was an incredibly powerful hallucinogenic. Some people have a hard time with those acid trips. Some people had bad experiences. The majority people did not have bad experiences. Marijuana was omnipresent the concert. The official name was the woodstock music and art fair. We are looking back 50 years later. We have some aerial views of what the area looks like today. There is a wonderful museum, it is wonderfully run and curated. You can come and relive the experience. It is really quite special. We will show that to you in just a minute. You were there 50 years ago . Yes, i was. I was 18 years old. We traveled from new jersey after work friday night at midnight. We missed friday. That was ok. We wanted to rockn roll. For 18, it was a bargain with a starstudded cast of great rockn roll acts. We didnt know there would be half a Million People there. What do you member about trying to get to bethel, new york. The traffic was backed up eight miles to get there. We had to our our car on the side of the road. We had to walk for miles on saturday to get to the festival site. The local people were friendly, giving us water and sandwiches and being very nice to us. How did you hear about it . We were talking about no social media, where did you get the information about the concert . It was close to new york city. It was advertised and we just want our tickets in advance. What are you hearing from his comments . Bobs comments ring so true. Its very representative. He was 18 years old and the other caller was 16. You realize how young so many people were. There were a few people older and a handful of children there. These were really teenagers and people in their early 20s. These were young people who braved all sorts of bizarre conditions to get there, to figure out how to get do on a jar of Peanut Butter. They rose to the occasion. They had an incredible time under incredible circumstances. Thats a great story bob just told us. How old were you when you went to woodstock . 17. How did you get there . We drove. Me and three other girls. I just remember all the people. The best thing in the world was jimi hendrix playing the starspangled banner. Thank you for the call. Thats a really nice story. People came from all over the country. Some people came from europe. I would bet you all 50 states were represented. Its marvelous that she remembers jimi hendrix. One of the things that is striking is when you in the film watch him perform and you look out, 80 of the people had left by that time. It was early monday morning and the audience was very small. A lot of people say i was there the day this happened. I bet she did. She was from kansas and waited till the last. Very few people were in the audience when hendrix did his overwhelming rendition of the starspangled banner. Joe from florida, how old were you when you attended woodstock . I was 19 years old. I drove my 1968 mustang as far as i could did i lived in new york at the time. If my memory serves me correctly even though it was only 60 miles north of where i was living, it took eight hours to get to the actual site. I mustve parked five miles and walked in the rest of the way. It was a field of mud. There was some great music. The people were just fantastic. I think that was instrumental in forming my political views. People could get along together. There could be love and peace and happiness. I think we could use more of that today. Is that the message of what stock . Love and peace . As far as i recall. I am 69 today. Im still something of a hippie. I am one of the few residents of this retirement village that still has a ponytail. I think the message should resonate today. We dont have to be at odds with each other. I dont want to be political about it. I think thats where our current president is doing his best to undo, to divide us rather than to unite us. Thank you for the call. One of the other things that is really worth thinking about and remembering is most people came to woodstock to hear the music. They were kids, they were interested in youth culture. They didnt come there thinking this will be an Incredible Opportunity to live the values that we claim we believed then. It was the actual lived experience of what stock that was transformative. It wasnt what drove most people to come to woodstock. Thats what was so transformative. It became visible to the people there. There were immediate coverage showed it. The movie hammered home that message. That is why woodstock lives on in memory. Beyonce had over one Million People show up at a concert one time. It was a lived experience of young people at woodstock. Tom in new york, good morning. Good morning. What do you remember about woodstock . I drove up in a 1964 barracuda. That allowed me to put a mattress in the back of the car. I went up a week earlier to see what was happening at the concert site. There were a lot of people already there. I decided i should go up as early as possible. I got out of work early on friday. I drove up that day. I came up along the delaware on the west side. I got to be within one mile of the concert. When i came over the last hill, i got to the intersection where the state police and put up barriers. As far as you could see, the cars were parked five and six deep on both shoulders and both lanes of the highway. Everyone got out of their cars and walked into the concert from there. I came with a few more food, mainly Peanut Butter and jelly sandwiches. I went back and forth between my car in the concert to change my clothes and eat. Let me ask you, you mentioned the new York State Police troopers. What other infrastructure . Where their facilities for bathrooms, places to eat . Initially, the workplaces to eat at the back of the concert. You could walk up to the back of the audience and they had vendors there. They all ran out of food quickly. There were a lot of ported johns. The lines were fairly long. There were also your fine call communes that had come in from california. Those groups tried to feed the crowd as much as they possibly could with supplies they brought in. Some supplies came in by helicopter. The u. S. Army in the National Guard flew people in and out of the concert like that. If there was a medical emergency, they flew food in. They dropped food into the audience. One final question for you, was this a political event or a music event . For me, it was a music event. I was a drummer in a rock band of the time. All the clubs in the area, the new jersey drinking age was 21 and new york was 18. A lot of jersey people used to come up to new york. We had a lively group of bands that played in those clubs. There wasnt a single band that would play that weekend. Tom, thanks for sharing your stories with us. Hes got a great memory. Everything he said helped give us that picture of what things were really like. I want to follow up on the hog farm. One of the things thats worth thinking about is the way the promoters and some of the people they brought in help set the tone and help create the possibility of woodstock working so well. The promoters did not prepare well. There wasnt enough food and water at first. Traffic conditions were absurd. They made some really good decisions. They chose to ally themselves with a Wonderful Group called the hog farm, a communal group later known as wavy gravy. They knew how to take care of other people. These were true counterculture people. They were not members of youth country culture that came out of suburbia. They created an alternative world. Tom and lisa law was one of the leaders. You dont understand woodstock without her story. She knew how to take care of business. She was very practical and thoughtful. Even as she lived these outlandish values and virtues that most americans would not consider mainstream, you needed to bring thousands of pounds of oats and other food you could feed lots of people with. The hog farm distributed free food. Nobody paid a nickel for it. Hundreds of thousands of people. Groups like the hog farm gave substance, tone, create the possibility that woodstock would work. Kudos to lisa law and the fog heart hog farm. We brought in a group called the hog farm. They were a commune. They were used to setting up big outdoor facilities. They did organic gardening. This was the first time anyone had really seen granola. More than what they provided in terms of talent, there was a vibe, if you will. Everybody get situated. They welcomed the next group and got them situated. That was the idea of sharing and we were all in this together. I think thats probably what happened. Everything had to stretch. Some more background on that commune. Were hearing from people who were there. Jamie from florida, good morning. I was there back in 1969. I caught a ride with six of my friends. They were from atlanta. I was 16 at the time. We had stocked at the Atlantic City festival. Afterwards, we went to where the woodstock festival was going to be held. When we got there, it was two weeks before the festival started. We started camping out. More and more people started to come in. We found out that they were going to be taking applications to work for the festival. Me and my friend and the rest of my group went up and we applied for jobs. I worked for food for love. My friend worked security. The things i remember about woodstock was it was more about really gathering the tribes together. People were coming together from all over the world. It wasnt just a group of people from atlanta, people from california or new york. We met people from england, from other countries. We met them from all over the United States. The emphasis was people coming together. The music was very important. That was the music of our time. It had a lot of meaning to us. Its like they were singing to our souls. One thing that really impressed me, there were people out there who were like me. I believed in love and sharing. When that storm hit, nobody was pushing others away. They were gathering under the plastic they may have had. Thats what this country needs. We need to gather together again. Its not about the drugs or sex. Its not about skinny dipping. Its about caring for each other. I am 66 now. I still believe in that. I still believe in loving each other and gathering together and looking upon my brother as equal, not above me or below me. Its also remarkable, that all remember the car they were driving in. Its an iconic moment they dont forget. Do you want to respond . Thats a marvelous testimony. Its a remarkable testament. I think thats what people took away. People came from all different corners of the United States, sometimes the only hippie in a small town or the only counterculturalist in their suburban community. She used the phrase the gathering of the tribes. A lot of people, a lot of young people around the country wanted that experience, of being with likeminded people and living if only a few days a completely different way of life. Not individualistic dog eat dog, this aspirational dream of what it could be like to live in a very different kind of world. Woodstock was a temporary autonomous own. It existed out of time in some ways. Young people created for themselves. Some took it home with them, they tried to live by those values. We learned from the style section of the washington post, the bird of peace and the dogs of war in 1970. Charles schultz used the name was socked for his iconic bird. Woodstock for his iconic bird. Thats the name he gave the iconic word. Linda from new jersey, what do you remember . It was the greatest experience when we got there. I was from brooklyn at the time. Everybody in the neighborhood was going. We all caps saying we will see you there. When we got there and we saw the mass of people, it was the most loving atmosphere you could possibly imagine. Was this a political event or a music event for you . It was a music event for me. I wanted to see janis joplin. I wanted to see jimi hendrix, sly and the family stone. It was mostly musical. We rented a cargo van and drove up in the cargo van, not knowing that the windshield wipers didnt work. We were driving in that pouring rain with no windshield wipers. We pulled over on the side of the road. We opened up the back door and we became friends. We saw them afterwards. It was just a wonderful experience. Linda, thanks for the call. I have to ask you one question. There has been talk about having an anniversary woodstock. That has not come together. Why is it difficult 50 years later . I dont know. I really dont know. Would i have gone now . I dont think i wouldve gone now. I would like to see it on tv. I wouldnt have gone. Linda, thank you. I think another thing that emerges from the people who were there, something i think in memory we dont understand about the 60s. A lot of people marched against the war, a lot of people marched against racial injustice. It was a relatively small minority of the baby boom generation itself. Most baby boomers never marched, they never protested. They werent political people. Many baby boomers did feel they were a part of this youth culture, this rebellion that was taking place. That was the politics most people lived. We think we lost the signal from david farber. Let me go to another caller. You were there . It was more for the music and the politics. I was 15. My friend was 15. My father drove us to the bus station. He let you go . I told them i was going to a jimi hendrix concert upstate. The other two guys told their parents they were going to the other guys house to sleep over. When he let us out, he said are you sure youve got enough toilet paper . He mustve known what we were doing. He probably knew the whole time. A funny incident that happened up there. Did you tell you that afterwards where you are . When we were in long island watching tv and they said thats where jeff us, oh my god. You guys say funny story, go ahead. You are going to tell us a story so go ahead. A funny story while they put us in a uhaul van, because they had no buses left. They put us in a uhaul bandwidth people, they were smoking pot back there, and we were kids, we got up there and we had to walk they dropped us off an 17 and we had to walk ten miles to the site. On the way we were picked up, we stopped at a Grocery Store and got half a case of beer bottles, and when we walked right out to the middle we just sat there, all of these quote, adults around us, with beer and wine and we said we just carried this ten miles, you guys are adults you couldve had which you want, they told us will give you five dollars for one bottle and all three of us worked, we werent hurting for money, we worked out a concession stand, we work to the commissary, we were in hurting for money, so you dont like to be laughing in other people but 15 year old kids got beer and adults couldnt get their own . That was a little funny, but joe, we had never heard of him before, we just sat there in awe of joke aga, he was magnificent. He was definitely the best of everybody that was their. Thanks for phony and i have a question for you because we have a twitter pole that i would like you to answer as well. We encourage our viewers and listeners to answer the question as well, from American History tv. The question is this. In the 1969 woodstock festival, did it have a Lasting Impact on culture in america. A positive way . A negative way . Or no impacted . All three areas you can decide upon, most people saying a positive. Definitely a positive, but most people were expecting a disaster. Nothing bad happened there. I mean the three of us survived. When we got up, i think it was sunday morning, i forget one morning it was, we head down the hill to sleep for a night, we headed over to the tanker there, we didnt know if it was milk or water. This is hot dogs without rolls, they fed us that, gave us free water, and of course it was a positive impact on me. Everybody was nice. The people bugging us for the bear, we couldnt blame them. Hey jeff thanks for the call. David fiber thats wonderful. I think his comment on joe corker is also telling. Some of the bans were already famous. Janet joplin, jimmy hendrix, the grateful dead, jefferson airplane, they were already headline bands. Some people really emerged at that concert, or became famous 24 a larger crowd. Richie havens was not a well known figure, though he was prominent in the new york area. Santana was not a wellknown band, when santana got up there himself, to play that guitar, suddenly that ban erupted, and became an iconic figure in the rock scene. For some bans it was a breakthrough moment, for others it was a validation, for some it wasnt the best show they ever played. The music really did turn on a generation, really exposed millions of people, eventually through the film in particular, to bands that they did not know about before that time. John is joining us from hand over maryland, good morning john. Good morning. Go ahead with your memory from woodstock. You were there . Yes i was. My memory was, what started it, it was like a spiritual awakening. It started from the whole lay out. You could tell from the music, how it progressed. It started out with the speaking french and went into the british invasion, then into psychedelics. People would get together, sit around, and talk about the insights that they had gotten. And thats the power behind this movement. Woodstock was the combination of all this. It was the signifying moment. I remember, i was just married, i had a six month old child, i told my wife i was going to go to woodstock. She said she was against it. I said look, i grew with this movement, i worked for it, i got to go. She let me go. It was everything, we believed in. The word hippie, came speaking french hit came from it was a word from the sixties that meant you knew you were right. Thats how we got to be called the hippies because people would stand around, share their insights, and say im hip, im hip. Thats how they started becoming hippies. John thanks for sharing your story. As we hear the stories david firebird, there were other venues and concerts. You mention the vietnam war, the assassination of doctor king and Bobby Kennedy and president kennedy in 1963. The election of richard nixon. What made would stop different then from say the moderate International Bob festival in 1967 or the newport just festival 1969 . As you suggest, there were plenty other festivals going on. Newport folk festival had been going on for years at that point. Then residences of some of these other festivals. The monterrey pop festival for example, in 1967 in california. It was a much more commercial event. It was more sort of an industry event, much more stayed, much more typical. You paid your money, you sat there and listen to bands. Woodstock was not. That the multi day aspect of it, will not unique, the fact that people were camping, that people wore, after a short period of time, had to make do with what they had. It created a different kind of cultural milieu. There were other festivals after, it that were more related to woodstock, but i think that moment in 1969, when people were so hungry for something good, something peaceful, something that commemorated the best possibilities that young people could express. Thats what gave it its power. A specific time in which it occurred, to the place in which it occurred, and the unexpected qualities that it brought forth for so many. Thats what made was talking a. Lets go to dan in ras well, georgia. Good morning down. Hi my name is van, but i attended 69, and im here today with my friend, who is there with me 1969. It was about the people. We heard about woodstock, and atlanta pop, first we dug our money together, 70 something dollars, purchased an old man. We remember having to pull push that thing. Then youre breaking up a little bit, we got the essence of what you were saying, another reminder of what they were driving. Yeah, yeah. I think, thats another 60s thing. We tend to forget this, this was an auto mania country, you could buy cars cheap, fix them cheap, ubiquitous and iconic volkswagon beetle, was such a great hippie car because you could basically lift the engine up yourself, repaired yourself, the Volkswagon Van became this Perfect People mover, a car really essential to the counter culture, give the opportunity to people to travel, and come to these festivals. And it was cheap. Someone remembers probably how much gasoline costs, i want to say 29 cents a gallon, even with inflation that was cheap. Cars were cheap, easy to fix them, no electronic computer stuff. Cars were at the core of youth culture, and the counterculture to. So those are great stories, everybody remembers their vehicle, youre right. Its so amazing. But that has such powerful residents for folks. I want to share with our viewers some of our headlines beginning with the new york times, how to deal with stock was covered. From Fort Lauderdale dan from for lauderdale florida, go ahead dan. Yes i came from a small town. Got together with a lifeguard where i was working at the state park, and his friends, and we drove down there. We had our tickets, and i still have my survive, survive, survive, welcome to hips itty. I was just in awe, and state after three days, it was so peaceful, and just a music and everything. It was quite an experience. Did you think at the time, that 50 years later, we would still be talking about this event, this venue, this music concert and battle new york and what happened over three days . No i did not. No i did not. Thank you for phoning in. We have another would stop memory from eddie inhaler town pennsylvania as we look at some old film. Go ahead eddie. Hey how are you . Yeah i was there, i had a good time, it was great. I grew up in new jersey. I went with a friend of mine, he had a 59 triumph, the four of us in that little two seater car. We managed to go mile after mile skirting around traffic. We left about for the afternoon and my buddy who couldnt drive anymore, we parked, and it turned out we were 12 miles from the stage. We walked that way. I got to see, it started to rain on june by as, we got there around midnight. We had an awesome time from there. I remember it well, we had a great time. In fact, me and a friend went there friday just two days ago so i could stand at the same spot that i was 50 years ago. And we had a great it, they had it pretty closed off, the venue headed parking pass. I had a great time i never forgot it and thats why i went back friday. To stand in the very same spot in front of the stage that i was 50 years ago but they had it kind of closed off so you can do. It but did it look the same as 50 years ago when you are there just a couple days ago . Yes, i mean i remember everything, the lake we also women, i remember what the stage was, we drove past it, but they had a kind of fenced off. I want to actually stand in the field where i was, but i wasnt able to do it. It is a Historic Site as you can see from this marker and some aerial drone footage. Abby, this is what it looks like today, if you are watching on television, what do you think . Im not looking at the tv right now, i could in a minute when, i remember at exactly the way it was except it was a field of mud, and today it is nice landscape field, beautiful grass. And if you look closely you will see the five oh with the peace signed as the zeroed to commemorate the 50th anniversary. Robbie, from north carolina, how old were you and why did your parents let you go to woodstock . I was 21 at the time and we drove from just outside of detroit, michigan, and we kind of came in the back way so we didnt experience all of the traffic that they saw from new york city and one of the main reasons we went obviously was for the music but also i dont know if you remember, johnson clair who was an activist at the time was almost put in jail for 20 years in michigan and part of the purpose of the concert at least in the michigan area was it was going to be a fundraiser to try to help his legal fund, what it was a great time, we got there friday night one, had attend and we camped, we came into 63 chevy and there were seven of us in it, and we camped less than half a mile from the actual stage, the big thing was between the bands, one thing people dont mention is that each band that came onstage took quite a while for them to set up, so there is quite a bit of time between each concert, so we would go back to attend, we could hear the music, and we would go back to the tanned and just sit around and enjoy ourselves and then come back when the music started to play. Thank you robin for the call, we have time for one more, marshall who is also at woodstock, she is joining us from vermont, you get the last word on this so what do you remember . Oh my goodness, almost everything. Almost everything. We came up with College Friends from newton, massachusetts and we had to leave our car and walk and we came in friday early, so they took our tickets and i had gone down close to the stage to film because i shot all the four days, seven rolls of film of movie film, they had left the next morning because of the rain, i didnt know that they had left, i stayed on, and i didnt have shoes for four days, just my camera bag will and i do remember what most of the music, but most of all it was the love and the carrying and the sharing was and there wasnt one any hassle in the midst of a huge crowd. Marcia im gonna show you there because we are short on time, but thank you those for what who weighed in on their members of woodstock, would from russia story and others, what you member from what you heard in the last hour so david . I think what is so powerful in listening to these people remember 50 years later their experiences at that time, how aspirational woodstock was for so many. Such a moment in which everything that they had kind of hoped for, everything that they saw as best about the United States and about american society, sharing, compassion, equality, freedom, looking after one another as fellow people on this planet, that seems to be the message, at least those people who remembered woodstock want us to take with us. I thank them for sharing those memories and i think woodstock does bear remembering over and over again. And so with a half a minute left, what is important to remember about woodstock, why should we care 50 years later . I think there are those moments in human time and we seem to rise above that every day of the prosaic and the 1960s are filled with those moments, from the great protest marches to the struggle to create greater equality, the sixties 11 because americans tried to move past their own Party Concerns were passed the selfish issues we tried to deal with every day, and woodstock became the icon for that for a lot of young people, as moment when they could rise above circumstances, rise above anger, rise above pettiness and create something wonderful, even if that wonder only lasted three days. But those three days clearly have lived on in the minds of those who were there, and i think we should all take stock of woodstock. What david farber, joining us from the university of kansas, we thank you for your time. Thank you. 2019 marks the 50th anniversary of the woodstock Music Festival which attracted nearly half 1 Million People to a dairy farm in upstate new york. Next, an oral history interview with woodstock cocreator already corn filed, he record how does read a rock concert came together, how he signed the musical artists, and the concept and business arrangements for the documentary film. This is half an hour

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