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WOODSTOCK MEMORIES 4 |
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If you take all the people who claimed to have been there in
1969 and match that to those that actually were - you'd find
half the world attended in claims of spirit. As well it should
be. Long live the Woodstock Nation. I, for one, remember the
look on Country Joe's face as he came out on the stage that
first night. I remember the rain, mud, sharing and lack of toilet facilities.
What dream it was, long ago, I had a photograph - a time
of innocence and confidences.
Remember....
Wyndancer
My tent went down while we were away at the music. We
came to to find crashers who'd tried to hold it up through rain and wind..."man, it was like being Captain of a ship".
Byron Mellinger and Paul were there... My parents drove us into the site as close as they could in their Caddy convertible, light blue with peace sign license plate. Folks loaded all over the car to get a ride. They came to pick us up too, and bummed that they'd missed Hendrix Monday AM.
Jonathan Cairns
I remember driving up in a friend's '59 Chrysler Imperial ( the car was so big, my cousin and I were able to sleep in the trunk). We knew we were on to something big when the highway turned into a parking lot full of freaks on Thursday night. My best memory was waking up Monday morning to hear Hendrix play. We were parked on a hill and you could see the amphitheater from the roof of the car. I was crashing too hard to get up and walk, so I listened to him from there. What a morning!
Kurt B. Zeidler
I was just a girl of 14 when I persuaded my parents to allow
me to accompany my older brothers to the festival from Queens,
NY. What a coming of age it provided me with! I've always
hoped to find the guy from Great Neck who gave me his
moccasins (after I lost my shoes in the mud) and
also let me have the last seat on the bus back to NYC -
Thanks if you're out there!
Debra
What I remember....
faded bellbottoms with tattered edges
newfound friends and silent pledges
tie-dyed t's in faded colors
music madness.....like no other
beaded headbands...rain on the grandstand..
innocent children running....skinnydippers nakedly sunning..
bellybuttons, bare breasts and chests,
smiley faces bright and yellow
feeling far-out....warm and mellow.
barefoot with flowers in my hair,
scattered...shattered... people everywhere.
peace patches and patchouli incense,
relationships and newfound friends..
Jimmi and Janis....left in a panic,
died too young but they didn't plan it.
"Well, it's 1-2-3 what are we fightin' for?
Don't ask me I don't give a damn..
Next stop is Viet Nam....
Country Joe??
Where
did
you
go???
Peace, Love and Smiley Faces ;-)
So many memories of Woodstock. I remember Janis Joplin ending her set
and people starting to drift off. Whoever was doing the announcements at
the time then said, "If you leave now, all you will miss are Sly and the
Family Stone, The Who, and the Jefferson Airplane." Everyone sat back
down until Sly had everyone on their feet getting 'taken higher'. I
remember Canned Heat blowing out the stage monitors. After a long delay,
they were followed by the Dead who said, "We know what we sound like." I
remember Santana and how they amazed everyone. No one, unless they were
from the West Coast, had ever heard of them. I eagerly anticipated their
first album and was not dissappointed. I lost my job because of Woodstock.
I was working at Monticello Racetrack (yes, I am a local in this area),
selling hotdogs and french fries. I told my bosses that I was taking the
weekend off to go to the WOODSTOCK FESTIVAL. They told me if I did, never
to come back. We compromised...I told them that I'd only come back to get
the paycheck they owed me. So many memories.
Jeff Gersten
Greetings:
You know, I signed on with the festival crew somewhere near Middletown, ended up cleaning up the old kitchens in a neat old hotel, cooking meals for the stage crews, buying out whole sections of the supermarket in (was it White Lake or MonteCarlo???) to buy groceries for the monster crew feed thing we had going and hauling it all back in the "company" station wagon. What a trip! Anyway, that old hotel was opened up just for us as I remember it, with a bunch of lightning rods on the roof, among other things.
Anyway, I sit here today remembering actually getting paid for having so much fun cooking and organizing that end of things. Well, here's my question: I have lost a few of my brain cells or memory of certain things like 1) What was the name of that old hotel? 2) Do any of the original Woodstock employee/workers ever get together like in a reunion? 3) Is there a forum or effort underway for folks like me to get in contact with other folks who worked for the festival? I know we had checks cut, so records of all the employees must exist somewhere, you know? Just curious and a little wistful, having had such a blast. You see, once the festival actually started, I was retired from the kitchen job, given a super site security pass and told to go have a blast! Backstage, no less. I was not worthy...I was not worthy...anyway, having been an employee, I never had tickets. All that
remains are memories, but those are pretty damn vivid!!! I wish I had SOMETHING to put in a scrap book. Nope, no check stubs. Who'da though? So, how do I get a hold of someone who was in authority (like one of the guys in charge like Michael Lang or someone- I forget who signed the payckecks- I think it was his Partner). Wouldn't it make good stuff for a book,
"Woodstock From the Inside; An Employee's Flashback" or some such!!! That old hotel was a wild place in itself. You know, I flew out to NM with the Hog Farm after the Cleanup (you remember the Cleanup?) and lost touch with the crew of folks I worked with (Bob Red Van, where are you?)and- damn- I miss 'em! Like I'm gettin' older now and a big old chunk of my soul was happening around that time and, well, you know what I mean. I'd just like to tell the guy who hired me and the folks I came down with from Morning Glory Farm
in Canada to work for the festival "Hey, thanks for the best damn job anybody ever paid me to do! I should have paid you for letting me do it." Or something like that. Maybe someone ought to form a "Woodstock Employee Veterans Assoc." Let me know what you think, ok? Peace, love, sex, condiments and rock'n'roll. Damn that was a fun job! Had some super fine times, my friend. See ya.
Michael Pridemore
P.S. After that gig I had no prob going to work for the Atlanta Pop Festival in Byron, GA the following year, and later getting a great job as a head cook at Yes! in Washington, DC in Georgetown. See what being a cook for the Woodstock Festival can do for you? And to think I now design robots for a living. Whew!
P.P.S. If there is a repeat performance and you need someone to head up or just wash dishes in a crew kitchen, well, I have experience! You have my e-mail address! I work for free, man.
By the way, I love all of you folks who helped make that little happening a great adventure and if any of you ever read this and don't remember me, remember the guy who tried to "Samurai Chop" a watermelon with a meat cleaver in the kitchen at the hotel? Well, that was me. Almost lost a finger that day. Haven't tried that trick since! Young and dumb; now I'm just dumb! Anybody who would like to correspond, well, come on! I check my e-mail regularly. PAX
Michael Pridemore
Myself, and two of my friends were just bumming around the
country and stumbled across the festival by accident. We had
been in the U.S. for about 5 months just cruising around and
checking the music scene in whatever city we were in. The
buzz was around about the festival in most places we went,
so it was always in the back of our minds to try and check
it out. We did and the rest, as they say is history. It felt
right at the time, but it is only in hindsight that it
really all comes into perspective of what a monumental event
it all was. It was amazing to be a part of history with so
many other brothers and sisters.
Russell Chambers - Melbourne, Vic Australia
It's hard to explain, but it seems like it all happened yesterday. It was awesome!! And would you know it: one week after it ended, I was drafted!
Scott Embleton
1969 was a very important year in my life- I was about to turn
18 and sought my freedom. That summer I ran away from home and wound up in
Provincetown, Cape Cod "crashing" with many I befriended in my travels. I
heard about Woodstock and hitched a ride there and had a wonderful life
experience. I was not into drugs and was sober the whole time. One thing I
learned was the real caring and sharing between strangers for others and
peace it brings which I have tried to carry forward through my life. From
there I went on to travel a "full circle"- to the West coast, Hawaii, back
to the East coast and a few years later to finally settle on the West
coast. I am now watching my nephews grow up and embark on their lives and
find it sad that they will never know the experience of "oneness", caring
and sharing that was prevalent during those times and on those days. The
"oneness" is still here, though muted and suppressed- it takes a lot to
"pull" it out of people nowadays- whereas it seemed to "flow" in those
times. Every time I see the movie I break down and cry, thinking of we all
thought then that we could "open" the world and make it a better place for
all. I still try to do my part and impart a little love each day. Thank you
for keeping the site and memories alive.
Peace: Steve, an Old Hippie.
Steve Dows <
Greetings,
I am quite joyous over viewing my photographic memories in the enlightenment wing. It is quite an honor. For many years, I wondered how to share them with the world. My friends wanted copies and I had no negatives! Thanks to the guys here, they were scanned and preserved.
For me, Woodstock was a revolutionary act. We went determined to get in free, since we were part of the "peoples" army! Capitalism was not my strong point. I never dreamed we would be a part of history.
Woodstock was a prophetic vision of our future. The dawning of the Age of Aquarius...peace, love and harmony for the Rainbow of people in our world. Vietnam ended soon.
Woodstock showed the world that young people were willing to set aside differences and prejudices to help one another; to be a family of humankind as we were meant to be. A rather humbling experience.
Peace, Love and Happiness to all!
Billy Van Houten aka Wild Bill
It was certainly one of the most memorable experiences of mine and the friends I went with. I still have tickets for two days and the added Friday ticket, a program, a parking pass, an ad flyer, and a security T-shirt in weathered condition.
The festival can never be duplicated. I went to several afterward, and
they didn't have the same sprit. The coincidence of the people, time,
mood, music, drugs, weather and everything else was unique and singular.
We went to the clean-up the weekend after, the one-year reunion, and the
'89 20-year reunion. Every time you go to the site you can feel the ghost of the event. I am glad to have shared the time and space there with all of
you.
Burl Finkelstein
I drove up with a South Jersey contingent that August '69, and hadn't a clue to what I was in for...No one had tickets and everyone was real figgety about getting kicked out..
We got situation about mid-way down the slope and hoped for the best...then they announced the bit about it now being a free concert... then we all went nuts !!!
About 4 months prior to the concert, I had met this girl in Kansas City who I was deeply attracted to....if the truth be known at the time, I would have been attracted to a mailbox if it had any female attributes. I couldn't get it together at the time due to shyness...as fate would have it, I met the same woman strolling down a dirt path or road about 100 ft or so from where we had our group of tents..I tried to (score, well that's what we called it!) a second time, and, as fate would have it, I was so wasted either I lost out again...or did it and was left with little or no recollection of what happened...She disappeared after that and never saw her again !!!
I remember the ISB (I was a huge fan at the time), loved Bert Sommer, Butterfield Blues Band..and eating an over-ripe tomato.
NeilWow, me and Larry got to the Festival a week early and camped out around the lake. Man, were we suprised when all the freaks in the world showed up that weekend! I stayed for Jimi, right down front.. I'll never forget it!!
Bob Herrin
Hitched a ride while in Pittsburg, no money, no direction to go. Went with group of freaks who rented a U-Haul truck. Stayed till just after rain storm. Slept in church in Monticello. Will never forget sunrise with the Who.
PEACE
Don Reed
I was at both Woodstocks. They were both groovy! Great site!
I still have my three day ticket. I didn't know that it was
worth so much! My favorite act at the original Woodstock was
Jimi Hendrix! The Star Spangle Banner was truely memorable!
Enjoy the site!!!
Matt Setton
Had to walk over 20 miles from Monticello to get there...after
traveling over 20 hours in a new 69' Grand Prix from Paducah,
Ky. Stayed for the whole thing til early Monday morn when Hendrix
performed. Never did I think that we were making history!
Gave some girl my ticket.....dumb.
Steve Turner
I remember sitting at a gate and waiting to see who I'd recognize from my home town in Maryland. It was amazing how many people I knew! I'm the only person I know who actually bought tickets. I still have them!
Frank Cifala
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