The Woodstock Nation

That was quite a party they had back there in ’69. Some 400,000 young people made it to the Woodstock Music and Art Fair at Max Yasgur’s farm near Bethel, New York. It was reported that another quarter million more tried to get there but were stymied by miles of nearly impassible roads.

The actual event took place some 60 miles southwest of the town of Woodstock, an artist colony that was home to Bob Dylan, Richie Havens and a number of other musicians at the time. The concert promoters had originally hoped to have the festival at a site close to Woodstock but politicians intervened and the promoters had to scramble to find another location.

From the reports I have read it was a remarkable event, the largest gathering of youth for peaceful purposes in the history of humanity up to that time. For many it was a life changing experience, not only for those in attendance but for those there in spirit.

I was but a small tyke at the time, not quite seven, so it was a number of years after that I even knew anything about the event. Over the years, having watched the concert footage, listened to the music and read numerous interviews from those who were there and those that made it happen, I myself have drawn a number of useful lessons from the “gathering of the tribes”.

Peace is possible

While the documentary of the festival features a number of beautiful young women in various styles and states of dress, photos show that the audience was predominantly male, and the Vietnam War was undoubtedly on the minds of most of those men. The Vietnam War was running full throttle and, while it was not known at the time, the year 1969 would mark the peak of U.S. troop levels in Vietnam. Over half a million men were stationed there, with over a third of the U.S. troops in Vietnam being there non-voluntarily as draftees.

In contrast to southeast Asia, where young men were being forced to inflict horrific violence, the people in the small towns around the festival reported how peaceful the young people were. Part of this was likely due to the fact that most of the young people in attendance had been brought up in a culture that still taught respect for others and was not inordinately focused on perceived entitlements. Another factor may have been the relative absence of alcohol. While it was reported that a lot of weed was smoked during the festival, along with some use of psychedelics, after the first day there was relatively little alcohol available.

..but politicians often prefer war

Unfortunately, despite its relatively benign nature, the ever paranoid Nixon demonized the use of cannabis in the years following the festival. Associating it with the antiwar movement, Nixon dramatically increased the criminal penalties for its use, igniting a war on drugs that would escalate through the Reagan and Clinton administrations to the point that the U.S. would eventually have the highest incarceration rate in the world. By 2013, with less then 5% of the world’s people, the United States had 22% of the world’s prisoners.

Politics divides, music can unite

Prior to the festival, many people had feared, or had been encouraged to fear, that the violence that had occurred the previous year at the Democratic Party convention in Chicago would reignite amidst such a large gathering. What was missed at the time was a full understanding of the divisive nature of politics and the power of music to unite.

During the campaign leading up to the 1968 presidential election, candidates Eugene McCarthy and Robert Kennedy had both strongly spoken out against the Vietnam War. Tragically, in the midst of his rising popularity and on the very eve of his primary victory in California, RFK was silenced by a gunman. Incredibly, although the overwhelming majority of Democratic Party voters had voted for an antiwar candidate, at the convention in Chicago it became clear that the apparatchiks of the Not-So-Democratic Party were going to chose the pro war Humphrey, demoralizing the antiwar community and escalating tensions already heighten by the assassinations of RFK and Martin Luther King Jr. the previous year.

Power corrupts

While the festival received overwhelmingly positive reviews regarding its peaceful nature afterwards, the organizers had to deal with an unexpected threat before the concert even began.

The Yippies (Youth International Party) were an anarchistic political group that was largely focused on opposing the Vietnam War and decriminalizing cannabis and other drugs. They often used street theater and pranks to draw attention to their cause. While generally nonviolent and having no official hierarchy of leadership, one of founders, Abbie Hoffman, seemed inordinately attracted to the spotlight. Drawn into the political circus that was the Democratic convention the year before, Hoffman and seven others had been arrested and charged with inciting a riot, a riot which many believed was actually initiated by the police.

While awaiting his trial prior to the festival, Hoffman made a spectacularly ham-fisted attempt to insert himself into the festivities. Joel Rosenman, one of the organizers of the fair, describes what went down:

“I went to see Abbie on his request-an invitation one doesn’t refuse. I said, ‘Look Abbie, I know you’d like to make a kind of big presentation at Woodstock, but it isn’t that kind of a show, it’s rock ‘n’ roll and it’s really a weekend of peace and music,’ and he said, ‘I don’t give a damn about that, you guys write a big check to my organization, and we’re cool.’ ‘What are you talkin’ about?’ ‘Here’s what I’m talkin’ about-$10,000.'”

To ward off disruption the organizers cut the check. I find this episode particularly sad as I am actually very sympathetic to much of what the Yippies tried to do. By embracing the growing mass media and using art and street theater, the Yippies had attempted to bridge the gap between the flower children, perceived by many as self centered and hedonistic, with the hard core antiwar and anti-government movements.

Unfortunately the Ring of Power, in this case attention and fame, proved too difficult for Mr. Hoffman to resist. Apparently not content with the coerced payoff, Hoffman further disgraced himself by jumping onto the stage during The Who’s set to harangue the audience for enjoying the festival while a friend of his was in jail for two joints of weed. Displeased by the interruption, Pete Townsend, who later expressed his sympathy for Hoffman’s cause, knocked the usurper off the stage for violating, in Townsend’s words, “the sanctity of the stage”.

The world is not black and white

While the first Woodstock festival has been called “a gathering of the tribes”, some critics over the years have complained that the audience was overwhelmingly white, insinuating that racism was somehow at play. This is a ridiculous notion. While the audience was generally light in complexion, that largely reflected the ethnicity of those in the immediate and surrounding areas. Additionally, the musicians they had come to see and hear were a diverse lot representing a number of different musical styles and heritages. The music portion of the fair was bookended by acoustic guitarist Richie Havens and electric guitar marvel Jimi Hendrix, with stellar performances from Sly and the Family Stone and Carlos Santana. The first day of the concert featured classical Indian music by Ravi Shanker, interspersed among a number of folk acts such as Joan Baez whose husband had recently been jailed for resisting the draft.

In contrast to that time, the recent outrage over cultural appropriation is puzzling. Musicians, painters, writers and other artists have long borrowed bits and pieces from numerous cultures. In the 1960’s George Harrison became intrigued by a musical instrument, a sitar, while on the set of the movie “Help” and ultimately introduced millions of Beatles fans to Indian music. Likewise, members of the Rolling Stones, the Animals and numerous other bands in the U.K. were huge fans of African Americans blues music and integrated elements of that music into their style of play. This in turn generated a greater audience for a number older blues players in the United States.

Additionally, like music, science and technology progresses from new discoveries and inventions from people all over the world. The Apollo moon landing that had taken place just weeks before the Woodstock festival had benefited greatly from contributions by German and other European scientists. To criticize someone for embracing positive elements of another culture seems unnecessarily belligerent, intentionally provocative and contrary to a spirit of peace and brotherhood.

Be prepared

The producers of the show had hoped that more than a hundred thousand people would show up for the festival but told the locals they only expected 50,000. In the end more than a half million people either made it to the site or got stuck in traffic trying to get there. Needless to say, food, water, sanitation and other services were quickly overwhelmed. Torrential rains added to the discomfort.

“Be Prepared” is the Boy Scout motto. While I was never a fan of the uniforms and other paramilitary elements of the organization during the years I was a member, there were a number of useful skills and values that I either learned or had reinforced by that group. Being self-sufficient was one of those skills, and it is something that can be a benefit not just to oneself but to others as well. Those that arrived early with tents, sleeping bags and supplies likely faired far better then later arrivals. Not only were they better prepared for the rain, they were in a much better position to help others in need, to share a blanket and a meal.

Volunteer

No, I don’t mean join the military. In fact, I prefer you not do that. What I am talking about is extending a hand to help others in need, whether they be your neighbors or cold hungry strangers.

During the course of the festival there were numerous examples of people pitching in to help. In an interfaith effort a number of ladies from the Jewish Community Center of Monticello joined together to pay for and assemble 30,000 sandwiches which were then distributed by the Sisters of the Convent of St. Thomas. Meanwhile members of the Hog Farm commune, relying on numerous volunteers and funds from the concert promoters, did its best to provide “breakfast in bed for 400,000”. In addition to staffing the kitchen and distributing food, other volunteers helped to staff the medical tents, providing basic first aid and calming those tripping for the first time.

I should make a distinction at this point between volunteering as a charitable act and Voluntaryism, a philosophy that I also support. Voluntaryism is based on the Non-Aggression Principle and holds that all forms of human association should be voluntary. A purely voluntary free market, with its demonstrated ability to benefit millions without coercion and violence, is a great example of Voluntaryism in action. Likewise, when difficult circumstance arise, as they inevitably do, Voluntaryists believe that the best response is a charitable response, not one the relies on the harsh hand of the State.

There is no free lunch

While many of the multitude received free food, medical attention and other services, it still had to be paid for. This was done through the generous donations of labor by thousands of volunteers and by financial contributions from hundreds of supportive townspeople. Additionally, while hundreds of thousands of concert goers were pleased when the promoters declared it a free concert, John Roberts, the chief financial backer of the festival, found himself $1.5 million in debt at the end of the festivities. In addition to all of the unexpected costs and the lost revenue from not charging for tickets, the backers faced dozens of lawsuits from surrounding dairy farms for the interruption to their milking and delivery schedules. In the end, although it took eleven years, Mr. Roberts made sure that all debts were paid in full.

I love Gravy, as long as it is Wavy

“We must be in heaven man! – Wavy Gravy at the Woodstock festival

While Abbie Hoffman had seized the microphone at center stage to berate the audience, co-emcee Wavy Gravy, member of the Hog Farm and the “Please Force”, embodied the spirit of the festival and projected a feeling of harmony, cooperation and happiness. He made people understand that we are all in this together, and that we can all benefit by helping each other out. While preparation is certainly important, being able to appreciate and enjoy the present, no matter what the conditions, is vital to living fully. We should always make now the best possible now.

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Further Explorations

An excellent book on the trials and tribulation of the medical staff charged with keeping 400,000 people healthy can be found in the book Woodstock ’69: Three Days of Peace, Music, and Medical Care.

The book Woodstock: Three Days that Rocked the World by Mike Evans and Paul Kingsury, provides a great summary and set lists for each of the artists that performed at the festival along with historical context and a discussion of the impact of the festival on later events.

Notes

Quote from Joel Rosenman, page 139 of the book Woodstock: Three Days that Rocked the World by Mike Evans and Paul Kingsury, forward by Martin Scorsese.

Picture Credits

Woodstock promotional poster at the Museum at Bethel Woods, photographed by Andrew Lesko

The crowd at Woodstock. Photo by Derek Redmond and Paul Campbell, downloaded from Wikimedia Commons. Used under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.

“US Justice” – image by Andrew Lesko.

1960’s era buttons on display at the Museum at Bethel Woods, photographed by Andrew Lesko.

Chicago Democratic Convention riot, 1968. Original source unknown.

Yippie! button.Photo by victorgrigas, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license. Downloaded from Wikimedia Commons.

The Who. Photograph by Heinrich Klaffs. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution- ShareAlike 2.0 Generic License. Downloaded from Wikimedia Commons.

Ring of Power. Composition by Andrew Lesko.

Psychedelic bus display at the Museum at Bethel Woods, photographed by Andrew Lesko

B.B. King. Public domain photo of B.B. King in Ann Arbor, Michigan, 1972. Downloaded from Wikimedia Commons.

Earth from Apollo 11. Public domain photo by Mark Goff, August 15 1969. Downloaded from Wikimedia Commons.

Sharing a blanket. Public domain photo by Mark Goff, August 15 1969. Downloaded from Wikimedia Commons.

Voluntaryist banner. Public domain photo by Mark Goff, August 15 1969. Downloaded from Wikimedia Commons.

Woodstock tickets. Created by Marpescz. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license. Downloaded from Wikimedia Commons.

Image of Wavy Gravy speaking at the Woodstock festival, 1969.