42 years ago today nearly 100,000 souls descended on Max Yasgur's farm near upstate Woodstock New York to come together for a 3 day festival of peace,love and music. This concert was the crescendo of the Hippie Generation,a celebration of all that it stood for with some of the most revered artists of the time.Although the show was plagued with bad weather and technical difficulties it was deemed a huge success despite the fact that promoters lost their shirts after gate crashers gave them no other choice but to have it as a free concert.

A lot of people say that Woodstock heralded the end of the "Love Generation" as just scant months later The Stones tried to emulate it at Altamont,CA, only to have it taken over by self appointed "policemen"Hell's Angels,one of whom killed an innocent audience member.Altamont brought a bitter and cynical end to the Flower Power 60's and was the harbinger of what was in store for the troubled 70's.

BTW my daughter's boyfriend gave me one of the recently found unsold tickets to Woodstock.It's for the last day,the day my hero,Jimi Hendrix brought his historical close to the concert.

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Man I would have loved to been around to witness Woodstock! But that was about 15 years before I was even born...

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My friends and I had heard about it but couldn't make the journey,it was music history in the making....never to be repeated because the times were so different then,and anybody old enough to remember will agree I think.
But like any other major event,there's probably more people who claim to have been there,than the people who actually were.

+1!

What would the world be without strap-hangers and wannabees?



Personally, I had just finished up basic at Ft. Leonard Wood and was in transit to Ft. Rucker while the festival was in progress. We heard about it (briefly) on the radio but I think it wasn't until the film was released a couple of years hence that I really grasped what a remarkable event it was.

Arjay

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"Here's why reliability is job one: A great sounding amp that breaks down goes from being a favorite piece of gear to a useless piece of crap in less time than it takes to read this sentence." -- BRUCE ZINKY

I know...when I saw the film I was impressed at what had happened there,and so many bands are not in the film...some had terrible sets I've heard.
Also,and I'm sure you know Bro. R.J. but the younger generation doesn't...not every ragged,grey haired pony tail wearing man in a bandanna and fatigues is a Vietnam vet. as long as we're talking about wannabees.

Hendrix would be 69 years old this November, I think.

Hard to believe all that was so long ago.

In 1969 I was coming out of a destructive maragg in witch I Lost My shirt, not to mention everything else I owned. House, Cars, kids, Everything. The last thing I was thinking of was a Rock concert on the other side of the country. I was looking for fast women and all the booze I could drink. And for the next two years, I found plenty. I made myself so sick I was afraid I wouldn't die. At that point in my life It wouldn't have made a lot of difference one way or the other. One night at work I was lucky enough to meet an older coworker Wee will call him leroy, C. over the course of the next fue months we struck up quite a friendship both of us blues pickers, Him way more than me. One night after work It was around midnight He, Leroy invited me to visit his home. Upon arrival I was introduced to his Wife Gloria They were both about 20 years my senior. and very nice folks. I think the only reason they liked me in the beginning was The guitar thing. That night Gloria fixed us a bite to eat and a Quart of whiskey went on the table Then out came the guitars and a stack of records Mostly blues stuff. Gloria asked,Do you know any of this stuff and of course I replied Yes some of it. They both laughed and said lets see. and began to play. in a minute or two I began to fallow along the best I could. They were both good and I hadn't played much of anything for the last ten years. After that night we played a couple nights a week for a long time Then Leroy Retired and I never saw much of them anymore. They prity much were responsible for turning my life around and Kick Starting me again and from that time on I've done fine. Incidentally For those that care,LEROY AND GLORIA WERE A BLACK FAMILY. and there music was very much inspired by there cultural background. They gave me a wonderful opportunity to gain insight into that music. Something I would never have been introduced to otherwise. Just another small Chapter in My past and a little insight into my feelings about the blues.
Woodstock, I dident Evan know about it until after it was over.
----Danny,

Funny! I was looking at my tickets the other day...
No, never went. My Mom was dead set against me going even though I told her 5 of us were going in a station wagon. Or maybe that was why!!!!
Didn't go to Woodstock 99 either. Though a couple of the same friends went to that one.

No regrets. After seeing how uncoordinated it was.
It's easy to romanticize and glorify it in retrospect but it wasn't all smoking dope and screwing gorgeous women. Lots of the former but not much of the later. No place to sleep. Not much for toilets. Not much food either. The guys came back 2 days after the concert saying how much it sucked!

Movie ain't bad. But if you were there and were way in the back, the concert was a rumor.

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-T

"You can't spend what you ain't got, you can't lose what you ain't never had" ~ McKinley Morganfield

The movie comes on VH1 Classic tommorow

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Like Arjay, I had just finished basic training, but in the steamy pine forests around Ft. Polk, Louisiana - think Swamp People. I saw the movie with a group of my buddies, in a theater in Saigon near the end of my tour of duty in Vietnam. It was quite surreal, sitting there in a very hot theater in jungle fatigues watching the show, thinking... where am I?

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Dennis in CR
Rockin' since 1963

I could have went but I'm not big on camping nor being out for several days in the (forecasted) rain and so, I passed on it. Once I saw the pictures and then the movie, they verified my decision was the right one. As to missing out on the bands I would have liked to see, there was always The Fillmore East, The Ritz Theater and Madison Square Garden (back then, of course).

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You dig?

The Fillmore East...now you're talking!...I would have loved to have been able to go there in those days.

I never would have made it through Ravi Shankar's set.

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Being able to play and enjoy music is a gift that's often taken for granted.

Don't leave home without it!

"I hope you enjoyed the tuning..."

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-T

"You can't spend what you ain't got, you can't lose what you ain't never had" ~ McKinley Morganfield

I was just 14 and didn't know about it until I saw the network news reports of the crowds and conditions.