Were you at Woodstock?

[TromboneAl]

Just watched the Woodstock movie yesterday, and wondered if anyone from this forum was there.

 

[Deetso]

My very uncool dad (an immigrant who had his hair in crew cut and brought a briefcase to highschool) went on a trip with some of his friends. The way he tells it he didnt know where he wasnt going - just to a concert. The only act he recognized was Jimi Hendrix and he complained about how muddy it was.

These days he claims he was probably the only one there who didnt smoke any weed there... at least first hand smoking.

 

[yakers]

No, but DW & I went to 30th anniversary of the Summer Of Love in SF. Great bands, even the police were singing along to "Wooden Ships", only in SF. And we are going to Burning Man this year in our 1985 VW camper.

 

[Outtahere]

I almost went, yea I know almost only counts in horseshoes. My parents were going to get tickets for me and 5 of my friends, they were then going to drop us off and do some sightseeing in the area. She couldn't get tickets so we didn't go, man were we bummed. She was sure glad the tickets were sold out once she saw the news reports.

 

[dumpster56]

I was in my cousins vw with my duffle bag and sleeping bag and my father came in and pulled me off and said not a chance was I going with the older cousins. I was 12 and they were 17 18 and 19. There was room for 4.

What stories they had. You should have seen what the van looked like when they got home!!!

 

[riskadverse]

I had a couple of friends at college who said there was this great concert going to be held in New York, and they were going to go. I told them to count me in too - and I would even drive if they wanted. Well they never called and I forgot about it. They went - got separated on day one and spent the next few days walking back and forth from the concert to the car 6 miles away to try and hook up. Needless to say, they didn't have such a good time. I'd like to think it would have been different if I was there, but probably not.

 

[unclemick]

Nope - never even heard of it except to the extent it made the news. The importance of the event didn't even sink in until years later. I remember thinking it was nice Jimi Hendrix made it out of Seattle and hit the big time.

heh heh heh - dumb and happy with my pocket protector full of pencils.

 

[Moemg]

My roomates at the time went but I sayed home because I really didn't like camping .All they talked about was how far they had to walk and how muddy it was .

 

[Ol_Rancher]

I arrived at a farmer's field to park my VW late Friday afternoon. That day was to feature the acoustic groups like Joan B. and Richie Havens. I slept aftrer the long drive from Maryland and by early next morning the fences were down - the concert was free (I had no tickets anyway)

I had already been to several concerts and knew to be self contained. I had some money (no use here) and two big boxes of kitchen matches wrapped in a baggie.

The Saturday afternoon highlight in the bright sunlight was the driving percussion and guitar of a California group no one around me ever heard of called Santana. The late afternoon rain was captured well by the movie.

Some observations not on the film - long time between acts, Grateful Dead were most disappointing - wet equpment, arugments between members of group, interruptions by Abbie Hoffman and more. Most over rated act - Sly & Family Stone - one number got people up but it was not a 'funk' crowd not time.

Late night acts in order of memory - C S N & Y, Janis, Airplane - crashed from fatigue and recovery time for drugs. By this time I had positioned myself about 75 yards from stage and just left of center to best receive sound in anticipation of Jimi.

The matches were a big hit. After the rains, the damp settled in and I had to only source of fire for lighting smokes (he, he) within a 1000 yard radius. I sampled every pot, hashish, hash oil, opium and anything combustible that could be found in the USA that week. Had my own vitamin 'A' which I began taking Sunday night to stay up for Jimmi. I saw Jimi having an overdose on 'cid playing air guitar to every electric group behind the stage.

Jimi finally came on after Sha Na Na Monday morning. High tide for the crowd was on Saturday afternoon at about 400,000 maybe twice that many passed through the place - New York folks thought it best to leave to get to work Monday morn - Ha!

Jimi playing with Band of Gypsies had a wall of 35 Marshall amps behind him (I counted) and he turned them up, all the way. It was so loud as to be physical, the hair on my arms stood up from the electric charge around the stage (I was too close) while the mountains across the valley acted as a reverb. My missing wife had walked back the 6 miles to the car and later told me when he came on, it sounded like a big stereo was turned up in a small room even from that distance.

The crowd was down to only 50,000 or so die hards and me! Wet but happy.

Often overlooked and rarely heard on tapes is the seamless transtion from the opening tune "Star Spangled Banner' into Purple Haze by holding the final Banner note a long 20 or more seconds with some twisting and stretching of that final note then slamming down the lead notes and chord for Purple Haze (hum this in your mind and you can appreciate it better) - - It elevated all who were there.

I saw Jimi four times in my life but that transitional will always be the best moment. His stage demeanor was special too. Most groups were overwhelmed by the even and crowd size - a lot of Golly Gee reactions (Arlo, C,S,N,Y, and most others) but Jimi simpley said "We meet again!" and told us the show was offically over but he would stay and jam a bit and maybe we would like to stay a bit longer. He introduced the Gypsies and began.

The main reason it worked so well was the reassuring voice of 'Wavy Gravy' otherwise panic or chaos might have set in at several points.

I have many more observations of interest to some - I even have the nearly complete set of mostly unedited performances in original order with only minor gaps for the whole event - around 35 hours of music. PM me if interested - its in MP3 format - I am willing to burn a copy to someone willing to pass it on - the Ol' Rancher is now on dial up

 

[Khan]

No.

At the time I lived fairly close to the area and the NY Thruway. The locals talked about finding people sleeping in their barns and fields and woods.

 

[Ol_Rancher]

Post Script - After the event I was too high with many many micrograms of vitamin A to burn off so we pointed the car north instead of south to Maryland and home driving until able to consider sleep. Found a mountain top park in Montreal and slept. Decided then and there that the Washington D.C. area was no place for us to live and after an Odyssey across the US, we ended up in Austin, Texas.

Big Mistake, Austin is a terrible place - hot, dusty, scorpions, snakes, diseased chiggers and more - But - I did get to relive the 60s in a then small sleepy college town.

Yee Haw !

 

[Sarah in SC]

Ol Rancher, that is an awesome story, thanks for sharing!

too young......
Sarah

 

[HFWR]

Turned 15 the day before the concert. No wheels, and probably no way my folks would have let me go...

Woodstock was my first eight-track tape...

Recently bought a DVD of Jimi's peformance at Woodstock. Awesome performance!

 

[donheff]

I was in California on a road trip with several friends when we learned about Woodstock. Three of them ended up driving cross country to attend. I had to go back to Chicago to start working at a psychiatric hospital (I was a psych major and couldn't afford to pas up the internship). I did go to a pretty good festival in Saugatuck (sp?) Michigan the following year. Anyone else make that one?

 

[FinallyRetired]

I arrived at a farmer's field to park my VW late Friday afternoon. ...

Amazing stories. I wasn't there but remember the coverage on the news as the crowds kept getting bigger and the festival assumed a life of its own. I hope you care well for those recordings and copy them for posterity.

 

[BUM]

I was working that weekend. My sumer job was toll collector on the NYS Thruway. That weekend I was working Exit 16 Harriman. Gateway to the Catskills. It was a parking lot. I can still hear, "Hop in man, were going to Woodstock". Yeah at about 2 miles per hour.

 

[Dreamer]

I was just a little too young. If it had been in any of the years from 1973-1977, I probably would have been there! What an experience it would have been!

 

[Tiger]

I wasn't there. At the time I was a "suit" living in MA with 3 young kids.

Many years later I owned a vacation home in upstate NY about 18 miles from Woodstock (which had nothing to do with either Woodstock festivals.

 

[Khan]

I wasn't there. At the time I was a "suit" living in MA with 3 young kids.

Many years later I owned a vacation home in upstate NY about 18 miles from Woodstock (which had nothing to do with either Woodstock festivals.

Very few know that. Woodstock is a cool town.

 

[Tiger]

Very few know that. Woodstock is a cool town.

It became too touristy for my tastes.

 

[lazygood4nothinbum]

ol_rancher, great story; well told.

i was too young then and too old now. missed that boat. actually only went to one concert my entire life, cat stevens circa 1970something, before the muse left him. i love the idea of rock concerts but crowds scare me. and now that i'm too old responsible for drugs, what fun would that be?

 

[mickeyd]

I was living in Syracuse NY at the time and I recall that there was going to be some kind of hippie music deal about 2 hours south of town that weekend but I had other plans that guaranteed sex and copious drink and did not go. For a while I was sorry that I missed it, but in the long run I think that made the right choice. Saw the movie, made me even more glad that I was otherwise occupied.

 

[Tiger]

Cat Stevens signed a record contract last year and he is back performing.

I never knew there was an age limitation on smoking weed. :

 

[HFWR]

I never knew there was an age limitation on smoking weed. :

Sigh of relief...

Don't go to many concerts these days. Have seen just about everyone I want to see, short of John and George arising from the dead. Like mostly smaller venues now. There are a few good ones around Big-D: Grenada Theatre on Greenville, the Majestic down town, and Nokia in Grand Prairie. Saw Jr. Brown, Eric Johnson, and Al DiMeola at the Granada (not all on the same bill...); John Prine at the Majestic; Steely Dan and "Zappa Does Zappa" at Nokia.

Back in the day, mostly at Louisville Gardens and The Kentucky Fair and Exposition Center (aka Freedom Hall), saw Steppenwolf, Chicago, Humble Pie (x3), Grand Funk (x2), ELP, Yes (x3), Gentle Giant, King Crimson, ZZ Top (x3), Marshall Tucker (x3), Allman Bros (x5), Lynyrd Skynyrd, Charlie Daniels (x4), Bob Seger (x5), Led Zeppelin (x2), Eric Clapton, George Harrision, Jefferson Airplane (w/ Papa John Creach), Bob Dylan (x2), Steve Miller Band, Aerosmith, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, CSNY, CSN, Stills and Young, Blue Oyster Cult (x3), Earl Scruggs Revue, Kiss, Roy Buchanan (x2), BB King (x2), Jimmy Buffett, Frank Zappa (x3), Little Feat, Eagles, John Hartford, Pink Floyd (x3), David Gilmour, Wet Willie, Edgar Winter (x3), Johnny Winter, Rick Derringer (x2), Stanley Clarke, Jean-Luc Ponty, Steve Vai, Jehtro Tull (x3), Brewer and Shipley, The Outlaws, Foghat, and probably some others I can't recall...

Edit: how could I forget the Stones?? and Sir Paul??

Edit: also forgot Jeff Beck, Santana, Peter Gabriel, Moody Blues, Steve Winwood, Loudin Wainwright III, Kansas...

No drugs were involved...

 

[califdreamer]

Roy Buchanan (x2)

Funny, I saw Roy Buchanan twice at the 'Dillo in the 70s. I'm going to bet a basket of nachos and a Shiner bock that HFWR went to some concerts at the 'Dillo.