Settling in to my reality as daytime house husband and nighttime childcare provider has left me with a little time for more trivial pursuits. Lately, one of the chief trivial pursuits is taking in all the stuff about the 40th anniversary of Woodstock. To be clear, I was not at Woodstock, nor would I have been had I had the opportunity. First, it was in Upstate New York, but it might as well have been in Tibet. My little world in August of 1969 consisted of Pickens and Oconee Counties in South Carolina, and was soon to include Tampa, Fl. I knew about civil rights, the assassinations of King and Kennedy the year before, and Viet Nam through television. I had an acute sense of the turbulence of the times, but I had not yet begun to travel. Besides, Upstate New York is off the beaten path even today. Ever been to Cooperstown for the Baseball Hall of Fame? Cooperstown is "far out" there and you drive by the Woodstock site on the way. By the way, we didn't even stop. Cooperstown was my destination that day. Secondly, while I had my rebellious side, I was never a hippie. I knew hippies, but I wasn't one. Finally, convincing my parents that it was a good idea for me to go to Woodstock, had I even known about it in advance, would have been akin to convincing my grandfather Pop Hayes later that men had actually walked on the moon. He firmly believed that the "walk" had taken place in Arizona or New Mexico. As far as I know he believed that until the day he died.
My viewing has included a Dateline Special on NBC, a documentary on the History Channel, and a concert film in the Palladia TV network in glorious 1080p HD and Surround Sound. I have to say that was my favorite so far. More about that later. I plan to see the movie about Woodstock with Eugene Levy. First, think about it - A Dateline special and a History Channel documentary. For all of the mythology and hype about Woodstock and its effect on the youth of the nation, the idealized notion that everything was peace, love and rock & roll is ludicrous. Sure, the music was great, but the logistical mess was difficult to miss. Food, facilities, medical care, shelter were all in short supply. Drugs of all kinds were not. No doubt that many lives were changed for the worse at Woodstock. It was a financial disaster until now. It was, however, a unique event in American history, and it did have a fromative effect on youth in the midst of the Civil Rights and Anti-War movements. It is also true that some were changed for the better. Two of the stories from Dateline and the History Channel involved couples who met and fell in love at Woodstock. Then they were married and remain married to this day. The social impact was a mixed bag; some profound, some mundane, some good, some bad. Most attendees went on to lead normal lives, while others did not. But it was not the dawning of the Age of Aquarius. Some stayed there figuratively, and at least two literally stayed there and live there today. Don't ask me why. There are a lot of things I don't know, and I don't understand all I know. For me, the musical legacy of Woodstock interests me far more than in the social legacy.
If you love rock & roll, you gotta love the music from Woodstock. The established groups of the 60's were all there and performed (minus the Beatles). John Sebastian, Jefferson Airplane, the Grateful Dead, the Who, Jimi Hendrix and Janice Joplin were the headliners. Hendrix was as awesome a talent as rock has ever seen, and his rendition of the national anthem is legendary - whether you love it or hate it. Arlo Guthrie (who sang "Amazing Grace"), Richie Havens, and the crystal clear voice of Joan Baez performed from the folk and protest music genre. And think about the breakout performances that happened there. Crosby, Stills, and Nash (no Young yet) performed for the second time ever at Woodstock. Graham Nash once quipped that the Earth would have tilted on its axis if everyone who says they were at Woodstock had actually been there. Sha Na Na, Sly and the Family Stone, the Allman Brothers all electrified the audience and went on to long careers. Far and away, my favorite breakout performance was Santana and "Soul Survivor." That performance lit the festival-goers on fire and left them burning. As great as the music was, its legacy is mixed as well. Many of the artists died young from drug overdose and other risky behaviors, never reaching their full potential. Indeed, both Hendrix and Joplin were dead within a year. Many more battled, and some defeated, addiction as well.
For all of the attention to the 40th anniversary of Woodstock, it remains like other events in American history, subject to interpretation. Some believe it was the height of the protest movement, full of peace, love and beauty. There's an element of thuth to that view. Others believe it was the height of debauchery, ruining lives with drugs and promiscuity. That's true, too. Probably, the reality is somewhere in between.
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