Brad Littleproud - Woodstock--Peace, Music & Memories

40 TH ANNIVERSARY

WOODSTOCK

Peace, Music & Memories

Copyright 2009 Brad Littleproud and Joanne Hague

All rights reserved. No portion of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a critical article or review to be printed in a magazine or newspaper, or electronically transmitted on radio, television, or the Internet.

Published by

Our toll-free number to place an order or obtain
a free catalog is (800) 258-0929.

Library of Congress Control Number: 2008937696

eBook ISBN: 978-1-44021-927-6
ISBN-10: 0-89689-833-4

Designed by Rachael Knier
Edited by Mary Sieber

Printed in China

On our cover
Front cover: Janis Joplin, photo courtesy Don Aters; Moonfire, photo courtesy John De Lorenzo;
Light bus, photo courtesy Dr. Bob Hieronimus; Jimi Hendrix, photo courtesy David Marks
(3rd Ear Music/Hidden Years Music Archives 1969-2009); and three-day advance pass to Woodstock.
Back cover: Woodstock poster, photo courtesy Heritage Auction Galleries;
and Woodstock at its height, photo courtesy Cornelius Alexy.

DEDICATION

We dedicate this book to
Mary-Lou Littleproud and Joseph Hague
and to our families for their time, patience and support to allow us to succeed now, in the past, and in the future.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER 1
Visions of Aquarius

CHAPTER 2
Please Walk on the Grass

CHAPTER 3
What we have in mind is breakfast in bed for 400,000. Wavy Gravy

CHAPTER 4
Im a farmer. Max Yasgur

CHAPTER 5
I see we meet again. Jimi Hendrix

CHAPTER 6
The Woodstock Legacy

CHAPTER 7
Then and Now

CHAPTER 8
Collecting Woodstock

FOREWORD

Its been 40 years since half a million people gathered on Max Yasgurs farm, yet each anniversary is like a celebration of that night when Michael Lang and I dreamed the idea of what would become Woodstock. I thought it important to keep alive the memories of the 1969 Woodstock festival, and I thank you, Brad and Joanne, for this book. Though its true that Woodstock is a state of mind and not necessarily a place, it was for many the birthplace of a generation.

The Woodstock generation was comprised of war babies, and we were rock and roll babies. We lived in a time of great change, great promise, great violence and great despairall happening simultaneouslyand as young people we were searching for something. My good friend and wonderful artist, the late Bert Sommer, picked up on the vibe and sang what Paul Simon said was the best cover of any of his songs, Weve All Come to Look for America, and at Woodstock thats what everyone did. Woodstock was more than a concert. It was about issues concerning Vietnam, social changes, and ideals that no president or speech writer could touch. It was about caring for each other. It was about our generation.

People ask, Whatever happened to the Woodstock generation? to which I answer, Well, were still here. Though some of us have become complacent in the world and maybe a bit too comfortable, some of us continue to believe that there is much unfinished business left. The greatest hope I get is from those who have contacted me over the past 10 years. Not the 65-year-old hippies still lighting their hash pipes, but the 14- to 24-year-olds who ask what it was like to live in America during the 1960s, during the birth of rock and roll, and what its like to be the Father of Woodstock. You can hear the same sort of passion in their voices, expressing a feeling of love and concern for our planet and each other that I felt back in 69. The world is different now, yet the same as it was then, if you know what I mean: an environment we continue to abuse, a war that nobody wants. Theres the same yearning for change in their voicespeace without violence. You can hear it in the new music. Its resurgenceprotest songs about the desire for things to be better. These ideals are still alive, which gives me hope for our future. For the Woodstock generation, the only thing against us is our age, but were still a force to be reckoned with and continue to fight for what we believe is right.

Im proud that as co-creator and promoter of Woodstock, I was responsible for originally getting people to Yasgurs farm in a certain state of mind and giving them a festival that was their state of mind. Could there ever be another Woodstock? Never. It was a time and place in history that cant be repeated. We can certainly show that we care about one another, if we have the will, but Woodstock itself will forever remain as memories by those who shared that muddy hill with me and with each other, 40 years ago. I look for this book to take me back to a wonderful place and time I spent with half a million of my closest friends. To be at Woodstock meant you were in the mud, and that mud was like heavenly water washing away all that was wrong with the world at that time.

And when people ask me where Woodstock came from, I say, From you. Youre the people who gave me Woodstock. You gave me a great show.

Love, peace and music,

Artie Kornfeld

Co-creator and promoter, Woodstock 69

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

To create Woodstock: Peace, Music & Memories from a concept to a living account of this great event, it was necessary that all the material contained within this book come from those who were therethose who experienced Woodstock firsthand and/or understood its significance.

With sincere appreciation, we specifically acknowledge those who gave permission to use their own works, which provided essential historical context, content, and personal accounts.

MICHAEL WM. DOYLE, PH.D.

Associate Professor and Director, Public History Internship Program, Ball State University, Muncie, Indiana, and author of The Statement on the Cultural and Historical Significance of the 1969 Woodstock Festival Site.

STU FOX

Excerpts from Song and Celebration. Published in the Ithaca Times, July 22, 1999.

ELLIOT TIBER

Excerpts from How Woodstock Happened, with permission from The Times-Herald Record and Elliot Tiber. Text 1994 The Times-Herald-Record.

THE TIMES-HERALD-RECORD

Middletown, New York, for permission to reprint various newspaper articles in this book.

THE WOODSTOCK-PRESERVATION ARCHIVES

www.woodstockpreservation.org
Timothy Dicks, Website Creator/Administrator

We are grateful for the support and enthusiasm of many people and especially extend our sincerest gratitude to everyone who helped bring this book to life by contributing their personal stories, experiences, photographs, and 8mm films to this project:

(In alphabetical order)

Jeryl Abramson

Cornelius Alexy (www.peacefence.com)

Don Aters (www.haightstreetmusicnews.com)

Clay Borris (www.johnphillipsphotography.com)