Not Sorry, Boomers: Woodstock Was A Bad Trip

The Federalist ^ | 15 Aug 2019 | Warren Henry

[DUMBGRUNT]

For an event described as an Aquarian exposition, its origins were remarkably mercenary. Two men, one a pharmaceutical heir, placed an ad in The New York Times: “Young men with unlimited capital looking for interesting, legitimate investment opportunities and business propositions.” They eventually partnered with a record company executive and the promoter of the relatively small Miami Pop Festival. When plans for a music studio in Woodstock, New York, went awry, the quartet settled on the idea of an art and music festival.

Established food vendors wanted nothing to do with Woodstock, so the promoters hired an inexperienced group called “Food For Love.” As their supplies ran out, they naturally increased prices, which resulted in angry mobs burning down two concession stands.

There were only 600 toilets on site, meaning there were as few as one for every 833 attendees.

Two of those involuntarily dosed with LSD were The Who’s Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey, both of whom have had bad things to say about Woodstock over the ensuing decades.

The Grateful Dead received electrical shocks during their rainy set; guitarist Bob Weir has spoken of trying to live it down, while drummer Mickey Hart claimed it was “the worst we ever played.”

Jefferson Airplane’s Grace Slick succinctly described Woodstock as “a bunch of stupid slobs in the mud.”

[DoodleBob]

Of course bad things can - and did - happen in a crowd of 300,000 people. But I believe the relative order probably has more to do with the kids' parents' values and the Golden Rule than they'd care to admit.

I also believe, in many ways, The Who at Woodstock says more about America (ironically) than the other performers. Think about it...most of the other performers were hippie-sympathetic. You'd expect that they'd have been heralded as the New Beatles. However, the hippie music generally sucked and didn't stand the test of time. Who wants to hear "Joe Hill" on acoustic guitar anymore? But what did The Who Do?

-they ran the photographers off the stage,
-Pete Townshed knocked a petulant Abbie Hoffman into the pit in front of the stage with his guitar (as you noted)
-they put on a pure rock show of power and volume; no peace and love during their set. In fact Townshend said "My 1460s (Doc Martens boots) released me from psychedelia and all the nonsense that went with it."
-God smiled on them with a sunrise at the end of their set.

The Who are playing to sellout stadiums this summer while other Woodstock vets...not so much. It seems a working class bunch of mods from Sheppard's Bush and their non-nonsense blistering (dare we say...anti-Establishment?) music style resonated better with American culture than acoustic folk songs.

[Howie66]

I hear you loud and clear, brother!

Welcome Home!

[Georgia Girl 2]

I’m just sorry you had to go.

[Georgia Girl 2]

What the Hell were you doing there for 30 months? A tour was 12 months and they could not force you to go back again.

[justa-hairyape]

Great read. Was too young for the Stockades. Lol. But I did watch that Woodstock redo live in the 90’s. Just stared dumbfounded at the tube as the announcers shouted something about it even getting unsafe for them now. Then no more announcers. Pullback shot and done.

[cuban leaf]

I used to tell people, if you want to hold one thing in your hand that could chronicle the lunacy of the whole 60’s thing and just how stupid it was, it would be a VHS copy of Woodstock.

Now I say “a Blueray”. :)

Still, I’m enjoying listening to it in real time right now. Santana is up at 2:00. Michael Shrieve on drums was amazing.

[cuban leaf]

Pete Townsend is one smart dude. He’s not much of a guitar player, but I like his perspective on everything. He seems to “get it”, though I doubt from a Christian perspective. He reminds me of my take on stuff before I became a Christian.

[cuban leaf]

There was a movie called “The Grand Tour” about a guy that turned out having guests in his small hotel that were from the future, going back in time to witness catastrophies as they happened.

I have to admit that if I could go back in time for the express purpose of witnessing past events as they happened, Woodstock would be an interesting one.

[caww]

It was worse than bad.....we lived not far from there and knew a State Trooper who was assigned to the festival. He warned everyone how unsanitary it was and filth everywhere.

[caww]

It was worse than bad.....we lived not far from there and knew a State Trooper who was assigned to the festival. He warned everyone how unsanitary it was and filth everywhere.