40 Years Ago - Woodstock

[Redz]

Was married with three young kids at that time.....so was behind the curve of the change, but sat riveted to the history channel last night

You could have taken us.  It would have been a swell family trip. 

[Neurotic Guy]

500,000 people in close quarters with very low hostitilies is called a typical football weekend at Penn State.  It happens frequently.

It just seems that virtually every single thing the hippie movement stood for died in 1969 and now people that were hippies or lived through it are living out the oppositte of their ideals.
If the movement wants to take credit for the good they created then they need to take credit for the bad they created too.

Like the 4 that were shot at Youngstown St. That was after they burned buildings. What did they think would happen?

Hippies went into professors' offices and destroyed their life work (obviously not at Woodstock) and took dumps on their desks.

The song "I ain't no senator's son" doesn't describe anything that happened in real life.

I'm surprised people would attribute civil rights to hippies. I just never saw it that way

There shouldn't be any need for controversy.  Who cares if one attributes or doesn't attribute advancements in civil rights to hippies? I don't hear hippies calling out for credit. The key, and I think indisputable, reality is that our nation evolves -- it doesn't sit still socially like some other countries do.  Sometimes change comes in ugly and dramatic fashion and sometimes it coasts in with grace and splendor.  The 60's were a transitional time like it or not -- you don't have to credit the 60's generation with being as brave as WWII or as brilliant as founding fathers' -- but change happened in a real and dramatic way during that time and has left a lasting imprint on our culture.  

I also guarantee that the 'hippies' that seem to characterize the crowd at Woodstock is likely a mirage as I think much of the crowd was nothing of the sort. Much of the crowd were simply young folks, many of them college kids, having the time of their lives -- playing 'hippie' for the weekend.

I was 11 in 1969 and I watched the 60's unfold like a kid looking through a store window.  It was a strange time and I didn't understand the social import or historical significance at the time.  But now, I see it.  You might believe that the 60's made the country better or worse, but in my view, I choose to beleive that the 60's sped up an inevitable pathway of social change. If our country was ever to be truly free and live up to its stated ideals it HAD to address civil rights and begin to open doors for minorities, woman, gay/lesbian and disabled.  Woodstock didn't create the change, but was among a number of events that commemorated it.

[Eja117]

"Tal-kin' 'bout my g-g-generation...."

Interesting to see dialogue about it all from the next generations.

Just a couple of small things....

It was Max Yasgur's farm, not Lesters.

CSNY did (four dead in) OHIO, not Buffalo Springfield, though I understand the confusion, because Stills and Young were members of Buffalo Springfield.

And semi-official reports were 500,000 attendees, though there are no completely accurate counts.

In discussions I've had over the last few days with members of my own generation, one acquaintance put it this way...

"It was a four day event where some of the best ideals were lived out, never to happen again."

As Brickowski says, the single most outstanding significance was there were a half million people all in close quarters with scarce food, water, and accommodations, and they not only made it work, they did it without any hostility.

For someone who lived in the 1960s, it's hard to describe the experience, at least for me it is.

500,000 people in close quarters with very low hostitilies is called a typical football weekend at Penn State.  It happens frequently.

It just seems that virtually every single thing the hippie movement stood for died in 1969 and now people that were hippies or lived through it are living out the oppositte of their ideals.
If the movement wants to take credit for the good they created then they need to take credit for the bad they created too.

Like the 4 that were shot at Youngstown St. That was after they burned buildings. What did they think would happen?

Hippies went into professors' offices and destroyed their life work (obviously not at Woodstock) and took dumps on their desks.

The song "I ain't no senator's son" doesn't describe anything that happened in real life.

I'm surprised people would attribute civil rights to hippies. I just never saw it that way

Kent State?

Oh yeah. That's what I meant. At least I got an Ohio school

[Eja117]

500,000 people in close quarters with very low hostitilies is called a typical football weekend at Penn State.  It happens frequently.

It just seems that virtually every single thing the hippie movement stood for died in 1969 and now people that were hippies or lived through it are living out the oppositte of their ideals.
If the movement wants to take credit for the good they created then they need to take credit for the bad they created too.

Like the 4 that were shot at Youngstown St. That was after they burned buildings. What did they think would happen?

Hippies went into professors' offices and destroyed their life work (obviously not at Woodstock) and took dumps on their desks.

The song "I ain't no senator's son" doesn't describe anything that happened in real life.

I'm surprised people would attribute civil rights to hippies. I just never saw it that way

There shouldn't be any need for controversy.  Who cares if one attributes or doesn't attribute advancements in civil rights to hippies? I don't hear hippies calling out for credit. The key, and I think indisputable, reality is that our nation evolves -- it doesn't sit still socially like some other countries do.  Sometimes change comes in ugly and dramatic fashion and sometimes it coasts in with grace and splendor.  The 60's were a transitional time like it or not -- you don't have to credit the 60's generation with being as brave as WWII or as brilliant as founding fathers' -- but change happened in a real and dramatic way during that time and has left a lasting imprint on our culture.  

I also guarantee that the 'hippies' that seem to characterize the crowd at Woodstock is likely a mirage as I think much of the crowd was nothing of the sort. Much of the crowd were simply young folks, many of them college kids, having the time of their lives -- playing 'hippie' for the weekend.

I was 11 in 1969 and I watched the 60's unfold like a kid looking through a store window.  It was a strange time and I didn't understand the social import or historical significance at the time.  But now, I see it.  You might believe that the 60's made the country better or worse, but in my view, I choose to beleive that the 60's sped up an inevitable pathway of social change. If our country was ever to be truly free and live up to its stated ideals it HAD to address civil rights and begin to open doors for minorities, woman, gay/lesbian and disabled.  Woodstock didn't create the change, but was among a number of events that commemorated it.

I can't really say cause I wasn't there to see the 50s either. It just seems to me like it set up a period of selfishness and self-centeredness that resulted just as much in things like a serious national drug problem and a nation of broken homes.

[BoundingRounder]

I was in the service in Wertheim Germany...Some friends say it's a resentment I've never quite relinquished...One of my best friends was the Bozo in the mudslides...Grrrrrr!!!

[tenaciousT]

"Tal-kin' 'bout my g-g-generation...."

Interesting to see dialogue about it all from the next generations.

Just a couple of small things....

It was Max Yasgur's farm, not Lesters.

CSNY did (four dead in) OHIO, not Buffalo Springfield, though I understand the confusion, because Stills and Young were members of Buffalo Springfield.

And semi-official reports were 500,000 attendees, though there are no completely accurate counts.

In discussions I've had over the last few days with members of my own generation, one acquaintance put it this way...

"It was a four day event where some of the best ideals were lived out, never to happen again."

As Brickowski says, the single most outstanding significance was there were a half million people all in close quarters with scarce food, water, and accommodations, and they not only made it work, they did it without any hostility.

For someone who lived in the 1960s, it's hard to describe the experience, at least for me it is.

500,000 people in close quarters with very low hostitilies is called a typical football weekend at Penn State.  It happens frequently.

It just seems that virtually every single thing the hippie movement stood for died in 1969 and now people that were hippies or lived through it are living out the oppositte of their ideals.
If the movement wants to take credit for the good they created then they need to take credit for the bad they created too.

Like the 4 that were shot at Youngstown St. That was after they burned buildings. What did they think would happen?

Hippies went into professors' offices and destroyed their life work (obviously not at Woodstock) and took dumps on their desks.

The song "I ain't no senator's son" doesn't describe anything that happened in real life.

I'm surprised people would attribute civil rights to hippies. I just never saw it that way

Hmm..
interesting that you'll take a history lesson from Red but not from someone from the era.

'I'm not no senator's son' has a definite bearing on real life and is a direct referral of what was happening at the time. Some rich and privileged (senators) individuals' draft age children were getting draft deferrals. Many thought unfairly so.

The Kent State shootings - where did you get that from? The four killed did nothing of the sort. A few were innocent bystanders.

No one said hippies only take credit for good things. That is your own misconception. Certainly some good and some bad reverberated from the era.

Like it or not, the hippie movement played a huge part in the times.

It was all intertwined. Civil rights, anti war protests, women's rights, generation gap, proliferation of drug use.

Revisionists will always exist, I guess.

[Redz]

"Tal-kin' 'bout my g-g-generation...."

Interesting to see dialogue about it all from the next generations.

Just a couple of small things....

It was Max Yasgur's farm, not Lesters.

CSNY did (four dead in) OHIO, not Buffalo Springfield, though I understand the confusion, because Stills and Young were members of Buffalo Springfield.

And semi-official reports were 500,000 attendees, though there are no completely accurate counts.

In discussions I've had over the last few days with members of my own generation, one acquaintance put it this way...

"It was a four day event where some of the best ideals were lived out, never to happen again."

As Brickowski says, the single most outstanding significance was there were a half million people all in close quarters with scarce food, water, and accommodations, and they not only made it work, they did it without any hostility.

For someone who lived in the 1960s, it's hard to describe the experience, at least for me it is.

500,000 people in close quarters with very low hostitilies is called a typical football weekend at Penn State.  It happens frequently.

It just seems that virtually every single thing the hippie movement stood for died in 1969 and now people that were hippies or lived through it are living out the oppositte of their ideals.
If the movement wants to take credit for the good they created then they need to take credit for the bad they created too.

Like the 4 that were shot at Youngstown St. That was after they burned buildings. What did they think would happen?

Hippies went into professors' offices and destroyed their life work (obviously not at Woodstock) and took dumps on their desks.

The song "I ain't no senator's son" doesn't describe anything that happened in real life.

I'm surprised people would attribute civil rights to hippies. I just never saw it that way

Hmm..
interesting that you'll take a history lesson from Red but not from someone from the era.

'I'm not no senator's son' has a definite bearing on real life and is a direct referral of what was happening at the time. Some rich and privileged (senators) individuals' draft age children were getting draft deferrals. Many thought unfairly so.

The Kent State shootings - where did you that from? The four killed did nothing of the sort. A few were innocent bystanders.

No one said hippies only take credit for good things. That is your own misconception. Certainly some good and some bad reverberated from the era.

Like it or not, the hippie movement played a huge part in the times.

It was all intertwined. Civil rights, anti war protests, women's rights, generation gap, proliferation of drug use.

Revisionists will always exist, I guess.

I saw that too.  I think he misread it.  The post was from me, but it was mostly just a big fat quote from someone slightly older than me!

[tenaciousT]

"I can't really say cause I wasn't there to see the 50s either. It just seems to me like it set up a period of selfishness and self-centeredness that resulted just as much in things like a serious national drug problem and a nation of broken homes."

It was the beginning of that as well. But it was far more than that. I was there.

And there was nothing in my original post to indicate that I glorified the era.

Some, like yourself, snicker at those times. But people were willing to stand up for things they believed in. Playing by the rules the U.S. was playing by - a war we would never win was ended, largely through protests through out the country.

Absolutely, other legacies are still being dealt with - like the breakdown of marriages, and drug use. No one denies that. There are certainly things to lament from the era. The topic was Woodstock.

[ACF]

I just do not get the significance of this event. Other than it was an all-star cast of music

You are probably one of those people
that didn't see the significance of a
black man in the White House, either.

[Eja117]

I just do not get the significance of this event. Other than it was an all-star cast of music

You are probably one of those people
that didn't see the significance of a
black man in the White House, either.

It's definitely significant. What he does or doesn't do will be more so.

But the difference between that and Woodstock is the difference between electing a black president and singing about it, but never doing it. Right?

[ACF]

I just do not get the significance of this event. Other than it was an all-star cast of music

You are probably one of those people
that didn't see the significance of a
black man in the White House, either.

It's definitely significant. What he does or doesn't do will be more so.

But the difference between that and Woodstock is the difference between electing a black president and singing about it, but never doing it. Right?

Right, good point and a TP.

[tenaciousT]

Actually, they sang about stopping a war.... and did it.

[Eja117]

Actually, they sang about stopping a war.... and did it.

No they didn't. They just stopped their involvement in it allowing communists to march on the country resulting in millions of refugees that they turned a blind eye to.

[ACF]

Actually, they sang about stopping a war.... and did it.

Woodstock '99, on the other hand...
Jeez.

[fairweatherfan]

Actually, they sang about stopping a war.... and did it.

Woodstock '99, on the other hand...
Jeez.

Hey, they sang about starting a riot...and did it 

Seriously though, a lot of the destruction started because of awful planning by the organizers.  My tent was, as the crow flies, 50 yards from a bank of toilets and maybe 300 yards from one of the main stages, but it was a half-mile walk to the toilets and over a mile to the stage because of restricted areas.  After the first day, security pretty much disappeared (a lot of people took the job to get in for free then quit and blended in), and people started busting through the plywood barricades to make paths that were 90% shorter than the "official" route.  I gladly helped out with that part.  Combined with frustration over $4 bottled water and $12 microwave pizzas, it snowballed quickly from there (My friends and I stayed away from the random destruction stuff).  Still some of the best shows I've ever seen though.