{"id":17079,"date":"2019-08-14T23:59:23","date_gmt":"2019-08-15T03:59:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fredjdevito.com\/streetscene\/?p=17079"},"modified":"2025-08-16T11:38:26","modified_gmt":"2025-08-16T15:38:26","slug":"my-woodstock-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fredjdevito.com\/streetscene\/my-woodstock-story\/","title":{"rendered":"My Woodstock Story"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"
\n<\/a>Scene:\u00a0My Woodstock Program Magazine from 1969.<\/p>\n

I loved going downtown to this magazine and newspaper store by the train station when I was young\u00a0to look at the publications\u00a0and to buy the Village Voice<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\n<\/a>I was reading the Village Voice<\/em> in the summer of 1969 and read about the\u00a0Aquarian Exposition: 3 Days of Peace & Music, taking place in August.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\n<\/a>My friends, Billy DeMichele and Larry Robinson, knew about it too. We decided to go with our parents permission. We were some of the youngest pilgrims.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\n<\/a>So, on Thursday, August 14, we met at Larry\u2019s house. Mrs. Robinson drove us as far as she could in her red Volkswagen Beetle. The influx of attendees to the rural concert created a massive traffic jam. We then got out of the car and were walking along the road<\/em>\u00a0with the masses coming from every direction.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\n<\/a>Arriving at Bethel we continued to walk to Max Yasgur\u2019s 600 acre dairy farm surrounded by the Catskill Mountains. The diverse attendees descended to the legendary event which later was known simply as Woodstock.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\n<\/a>It was a pivotal moment in popular music history, defined a generation, and became synonymous with the counterculture movement of the 1960s. The zeitgeist of my generation<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\n<\/a>My vision of the event was like a high school football game, spectators on the bleachers and musical entertainers in the middle of the field. I never expected such a huge gathering. We planned to buy our $24.00 tickets for three days when we got there.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\n<\/a>But, by the time we got to Woodstock<\/em> people started arriving a couple days ahead of the concert.\u00a0The fencing, gates and ticket booths still weren\u2019t ready.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\n<\/a>Billy asked this guy how far it was and he said \u201cYou see that brown area\u00a0over\u00a0there\u201d Yes, that big hill, Billy said \u201cThat\u2019s not a hill man, that\u2019s people\u201d he said.\u00a0We walked and stopped at the top of the slope and saw with amazement a\u00a0half a million strong,\u00a0and everywhere there was song<\/em> and celebration<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\n<\/a>It\u00a0was the brainchild of four men\u00a0under 27,\u00a0according to\u00a0Michael\u00a0Lang, one of the four, in\u00a0an interview with\u00a0The Telegraph<\/em>, \u201cYou do everything you can to get the gates and the fences finished\u2014but you have your priorities. People are coming, and you need to be able to feed them, and take care of them, and give them a show. So you have to prioritize.\u201d\u00a0With no efficient way of\u00a0charging concert-goers, Lang and his partners decided to make Woodstock a free event.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\n<\/a>We set up the\u00a0pup tent to the left of the stage about half way up the slope. My mother\u00a0gave us enough chicken\u00a0cutlet sandwiches that I shared them with the\u00a0surrounding\u00a0spectators.\u00a0They loved it, and yes my mom was a great cook!\u00a0She\u00a0was born in the States and her parents\u00a0emigrated\u00a0from Italy. And you know about\u00a0those Italian mothers \u2014\u00a0eat,\u00a0eat,\u00a0mangiare,\u00a0mangiare. And we still had enough in the cooler for the coming days.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\n<\/a>The festival was off to a shaky start on Friday, August 15 \u2014 several hours after the scheduled kickoff time, not a note of music had been played. Richie Havens was moved up to the opening performance slot after Sweetwater were stopped by police en route to the festival and other artists were delayed on the thruway. Organizers convinced Richie Havens to go on stage alone with his guitar. At around 5:00pm he took the stage and played. Each time he tried to finish his set, he found himself being talked into going back out. But after two hours and 45 minutes of playing, Havens ran out of material. So, he improvised. Over the intensely rhythmic strum of his own acoustic, Havens composed a festival-inspired song called \u201cFreedom\u201d on the spot.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\n<\/a>Havens was followed by an unscheduled blessing by Sri Swami Satchidananda.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\n<\/a>To follow was Sweetwater, Bert Sommer, Tim Harden, Ravi Shankar, and Melanie who performed during the rain. As the rain continued, starting off Saturday was Arlo Guthrie at around 12 midnight, and Joan Baez, who was six months pregnant, and sang until 2am.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\n<\/a>Earlier we met some girls, a platonic relationship. After the performances and after the rain we all went to the hillside away from the crowd. We\u00a0laid in the grass looking up at the stars and talked about the universe.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\n<\/a>On Saturday morning I went to find a phone behind the stage to call my parents before the performances\u00a0started and I finally found one.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\n<\/a>In a box by the phone booth I found several program magazines. The photos in this post are from it. I called my parents and they immediately said \u2014 get home now! But, I stayed until the very end. And I didn\u2019t get in trouble when I returned home. No one expected the magnitude of this gathering, including my parents.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\n<\/a>We went to the top of the slope to the food area where they were giving food out for free. There were only oranges left so we took some. There were rows and rows of motorcycles and the Hells Angels. An example of peaceful coexistence which the festival promoted and it was demonstrated by all of the attendees. Dr. William Abruzzi, the festival\u2019s chief medical officer said \u201cThere was no violence what so ever which is remarkable for a crowd this large. These people are really beautiful.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"
\n<\/a>Sunday around 12:30am Creedence Clearwater Revival played, who were the first to sign up for this concert. Janis Joplin, Sly and the Family Stone, and The Who played through the night until 6am. Jefferson Airplane performed next from 8am – 10am. It was difficult to stay up through the night and morning, but I did. I\u00a0slept until 2pm when I heard the voice of Joe Cocker and The Grease Band.\u00a0After his last song \u201cWith A Little Help From My Friends\u201d the\u00a0thunderstorm disrupted the event for several hours.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\n<\/a>While it rained we stayed in our tent and smoked some pot, ate chicken cutlet sandwiches, and played cards.\u00a0I also went to\u00a0the stream while it rained, water, very free and easy<\/em>. We didn’t go sliding in the mud like others did.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\n<\/a>At 6:30pm it picked up again with Country Joe and the Fish.\u00a0Through the evening and the night the musicians were Ten Years After, The Band, Johnny Winters, Blood, Sweat and Tears, Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young, Paul Butterfield Band, and Sha Na Na which ended on Monday morning at 8am.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\n<\/a>At 9am Jimmy Hendricks and his new band Gypsy Sun and Rainbows, was the last act to perform. The two-hour set included his psychedelic rendition of \u201cThe Star Spangled Banner\u201d after which he segued into \u201cPurple Haze\u201d. Hendrix was wearing a blue-beaded white leather jacket with fringe and a red head scarf.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\n<\/a>Under the sun, under the stars, and in the rain we listened to 32 amazing musical sets during our stay.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\n<\/a>Happy that my parents gave me the freedom<\/em>\u00a0to go and get my soul free\u00a0<\/em>and to get back to the garden.<\/em>\u00a0It was a joyful and historic experience that I will always cherish and talk about.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\n<\/a>We were attracted by the music, but we found more \u2014 love, peace, and unity.\u00a0It reminds us during these times of the nearness that love, music, and shared experiences can elicit. We are stardust, we are golden<\/em>. I found the garden.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\n<\/a>And then we\u00a0hitchhiked home.<\/p>\n

Please note: Most of the the phrases in italics\u00a0are lyrics from \u201cWoodstock” by\u00a0Joni Mitchell. Exceptions are the song title \u201cMy Generation\u201d by The Who, and\u00a0\u201cFreedom\u201d by Richie Havens, \u201cwater, very free and easy\u201d, lyrics from \u201cWooden Ships\u201d by Cosby, Still, and Nash which all were performed at this epic event.\u00a0Mitchell\u00a0composed the song based on what she had heard from her then boyfriend\u00a0Graham Nash\u00a0about the event.\u00a0She had not been there herself, since a manager had told her that it would, instead, be more advantageous for her to appear on\u00a0The Dick\u00a0Caveat Show.\u00a0She composed it in a hotel room in New York City, watching televised reports of the festival.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Scene:\u00a0My Woodstock Program Magazine from 1969. I loved going downtown to this magazine and newspaper store by the train station when I was young\u00a0to look at the publications\u00a0and to buy the Village Voice. I was reading the Village Voice in the summer of 1969 and read about the\u00a0Aquarian Exposition: 3 Days of Peace & Music, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[768,2049,25,26,21,94],"tags":[1993,2006,2036,2037,1995,2017,2013,1999,1996,2031,2004,2001,2005,2027,2020,2033,2019,114,2021,2023,2040,2042,2041,2018,2024,2025,2030,57,2045,2048,2000,2016,2007,2043,2035,32,738,33,22,2038,739,2015,1997,2009,2010,2039,155,2011,2034,2032,2012,2028,2029,2047,2008,2022,2046,2014,1994,1998,2026,2044,2002,2003,2050],"class_list":["post-17079","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-celebrity","category-concert","category-culture","category-music","category-new-york-city","category-out-of-town","tag-1993","tag-a-half-a-million-strong-and-everywhere-there-was-song-and-celebration","tag-and-young","tag-and-young-wooden-ships","tag-aquarian-exposition-3-days-of-peace-music","tag-arlo-guthrie","tag-bert-sommer","tag-bethel","tag-billy-demichele","tag-blood","tag-by-the-time-we-got-to-woodstock","tag-catskill-mountains","tag-concert","tag-country-joe-and-the-fish","tag-creedence-clearwater-revival","tag-crosby","tag-dr-william-abruzzi","tag-graham-nash","tag-janis-joplin","tag-jefferson-airplane","tag-jimmy-hendricks-his-band-gypsy-sun-and-rainbows","tag-jimmy-hendrickss-purple-haze","tag-jimmy-hendrickss-the-star-spangled-banner","tag-joan-baez","tag-joe-cocker-and-the-grease-band","tag-joe-cockers-with-a-little-help-from-my-friends","tag-johnny-winters","tag-joni-mitchell","tag-joni-mitchells-woodstock","tag-larry","tag-max-yasgurs-dairy-farm","tag-melanie","tag-michael-lang","tag-my-soul-free-and-to-get-back-to-the-garden","tag-nash","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-ny","tag-nyc","tag-paul-butterfield-band","tag-personal-style","tag-ravi-shankar","tag-red-volkswagen-beetle","tag-richie-havens","tag-richie-havens-freedom","tag-sha-na-na","tag-sly-and-the-family-stone","tag-sri-swami-satchidananda","tag-stills","tag-sweat-and-tears","tag-sweetwater","tag-ten-years-after","tag-the-band","tag-the-dick-caveat-show","tag-the-telegraph","tag-the-who","tag-the-whos-my-generation","tag-tim-harden","tag-village-voice","tag-walking-along-the-road","tag-water-very-free-and-easy","tag-we-are-stardust-we-are-golden","tag-woodstock","tag-woodstock-music-art-fair","tag-woodstock-program-magazine"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7Jszn-4rt","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fredjdevito.com\/streetscene\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17079","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fredjdevito.com\/streetscene\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fredjdevito.com\/streetscene\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fredjdevito.com\/streetscene\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fredjdevito.com\/streetscene\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17079"}],"version-history":[{"count":57,"href":"https:\/\/fredjdevito.com\/streetscene\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17079\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20266,"href":"https:\/\/fredjdevito.com\/streetscene\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17079\/revisions\/20266"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fredjdevito.com\/streetscene\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17079"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fredjdevito.com\/streetscene\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17079"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fredjdevito.com\/streetscene\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17079"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}