More Memories of Woodstock - Peach thanks for that poignant, touching, and right-on description of that incredible gathering of vibes at Woodstock in 1969. I was on leave from the army, had avoided cutting my hair for almost two months so i could have more than an inch !! drove up with friends, passed J's from car to car on the NY Thruway, arrived to find incredible line of cars. carried our tents and gear in, set up camp in a field west of the main area. at night there was plenty of room, by light of morn, you could hardly walk. and they kept coming. hippies, freaks, straights, rockers, beards, no-bras etc. It was the first east coast gathering of the clan, before we really knew we were a clan.
The numbers had swollen so incredible much by the end of the first day, that we realized that this was either something incredible or potential disaster. food ran out, toilets over-whelmed, people everywhere. but, the flow was so positive- and food trucks appeared, folks hopped on the trucks to pass out the food, the hog farm fed THOUSANDS, people helped, we swam nude, we got by with a little (ok, lots) of help from our friends.
Then the rains came - and came - and came.
We were soaked. I remember walking along a road Sunday morning, Hendrixs was singing his Electric Star Spangled Banner, the rain had stopped, the fields were a wreck. Some guy got out of his tent, saw his car buried in mud, and looked really frustrated - 3-4 5 folks just appeared, and all lent a hand to get the car unstuck.
There was a feeling at Woodstock that I've never felt before, and doubt that I ever will again.
We were one - we were OK. we were right. the world was fukked up, not us.
There were moments of concern, when Army helicopters swirled overhead, and we thought we were gonna get gassed or something, but there were bringing in food, and the next rock group.
Somewhere between the Band, and Janis and the other great names were there, a rumor started that the Beatles were gonna come and play. It made sense. they belonged there.
I cried when John was killed. I held out the hope that Paul, George, Ringo, and one of John's son's would do one more gig. Now George is gone.
Thank you guys, for the great music and spirit. Larry |
